Consultants share “Create State” timeline with Santa Barbara City Council
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- Santa Barbara City Council heard an update on possible options for State Street.
Matt Shawaker shared a timeline that began in the fall with a survey and an in person community meeting to collect community input.
The Director of Urban Design with the consulting firm MIG shared photos of Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado to give people ideas.
Boulder has four blocks that are closed to vehicles and no curbs.
But Mayor Randy Rowse said Santa Barbara is different.
Rowse said 10 blocks along State Street in Santa Barbara would be extremely long for a promenade.
"We are still in the early phases of this, even though we have been at it awhile, and it has been 3 years since we have had the street closed," said Mayor Rowse.
But Santa Barbara's State Street Master Planner Tess Harris is optimistic.
She said Santa Barbara stands out because of the community interest.
Almost 80 percent of those surveyed want go create a safe experience.
More than 70 percent want the vision to bring people downtown.
Portions of State Street could include playful and interactive art near dinings and shopping.
Shawaker said the key is to attract people from age 8 to 80.
He showed a timeline that goes from a vision, to a framework, followed by preliminary concepts and public draft plan by early 2024.
Mayor Rowse said the city will still have to find a way to pay for a plan approved and that could cost around $10 million dollars a block.
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