Santa Monica Failure Begets Santa Barbara Failure
[Fred Vega / The Original Voice of Santa Barbara / Death Valley aka State Street]
If you were a listener of Fred Vega’s show, Fred was a really smart fellow, former L.A. firefighter, raised in the heart of Hispanic L.A., a college graduate with a degree in urban planning.
Cars Are Basic found a wide-ranging public outlet to the community with Mr. Vega. Not because we knew each other. Not because we went out on weekends and had a few root beers.
He recognized that the truth in our statements aligned with both his personal and professional firefighting experience (I would be remiss if I did not mention Charlene Vega, Fred’s remarkable and smart wife who balanced everything).
This KTMS daily morning radio show, hosted by an educated Hispanic Republican, told the truth, and did it with eloquence.
The City of Santa Barbara has since fallen into the quicksand of political correctness with the failures of street destruction and the quagmire of a “15-minute city.”
The destruction of Old Town and State Street is almost a carbon copy of the multi-generational destruction of Santa Monica.
The “Voice of Santa Barbara” sounded the fire alarm of what was happening to Downtown SB, years before the all-knowing political elite saw it coming.
The Rubber Stamp of Failed Santa Monica
Simply put, Santa Monica was taken over by an openly radical Socialist Council, whose council members decreed that cars, efficient streets, and property rights, were close to the Devil. Santa Monica built the 3rd Street Promenade, which, like Paseo Nuevo, never lived up to its long-term hype.
The Council fought Caltrans for decades over widening Santa Monica Blvd., and folded only after their destruction of streets created ongoing and massive citywide traffic congestion. Even the car haters of Santa Monica could no longer ignore the truth.
Sound familiar Santa Barbara?
I came upon an article posted on the California Political Review (Wednesday, November 12, 2025), about the hole Santa Monica is in. The quotes below are from the “Review” quoting City Council members.
“We’re trying to usher in a rebirth — a renaissance of the city — by investing in ourselves,” Councilmember Dan Hall said…”
“Santa Monica is far from the only city — in California or nationwide — to face the pain of a downtown in decline…”
Welcome to FAILURE
Welcome to one of the first California cities to hammer traffic flow, narrow streets, and encourage housing without proper parking per bedroom. Welcome to the failed 3rd Street Promenade…. Santa Monica was on its way to traffic failure accelerated by Covid. Facing over 50% pedestrian collapse since.
Welcome to the failed State Street Promenade locals call “Death Valley.”
With very small word changes, this is the junk poured forth by Santa Barbara City Councils, headed by Mayors Blum, Schneider, Murillo. It is the identical failed ideology of this current Council since Covid restrictions were lifted. It is time to reinstate two-way traffic, and parking.
Welcome to the City of Santa Barbara that decided to mimic Santa Monica. Within 40 years they’ve destroyed downtown and its formerly working traffic grid.
The games and gimmicks have not worked in both cities. The politically correct Sacramento Density, Vision Zero, intentionally obstructed streets, and the weaklings who tout “Strong” (name the city) as the future of a 15-minute city are failures. Get it, it’s almost 50 years of planning by Sacramento.
Santa Monica has been the longest failure “example” with its Council’s excuse of “We just need to do more, and it will work.”
Obviously, it has not.
Santa Barbara hired former Santa Monica city and traffic planners to prove it will work. Ten years before Covid, Santa Barbara saw in Old Town the exact same failures of Santa Monica. State Street: 22% retail vacancy (City Q3 2025) does not describe the far larger downtown failure two blocks on either side of State. The same types of Councils and Mayors said, ”We just need to do more, and it will work.”
They have failed.
Santa Barbara’s Post Covid Collapse Happened in Light Speed
Just after Covid restrictions were lifted and people could travel = crash. The same Santa Monica Street obstructions & excuses (“people will use buses/ride bikes”) were stamped crushingly on the now Former Jewel of the California Coast (Santa Barbara).
Multiple years of deficit, numerous tax increases that hurt businesses, multiple years of Heads-in-the-Sand City Councils.
Santa Monica is kidding itself if it thinks its decades of failure will change by “modification” of what killed them. Both Santa Monica and Santa Barbara need planning to restore traffic lanes, not as a token but tens of millions of dollars and months of ripping out what is there.
Socialist dictates of “We just need to do more, and it will work,” are etched in the gravestones of failure. Santa Monica is Santa Barbara’s Diogenes, and the hemlock is failed socialist planning and urban street destruction.
It is happening all over the state. What is Sacramento’s Answer? “We just need to do more, and it will work.”
Thank you to the Fred Vega’s of the community. Before the politically correct Left slammed the door on daily open and honest discourse, KTMS Fred Vega – Voice of Santa Barbara – was the number one ranked program both AM & FM.
As the title states: Santa Monica failure begets Santa Barbara failure.
Community Calendar:
Got a Santa Barbara event for our community calendar? Fenkner@sbcurrent.com
All I want for Christmas is a jack hammer, and an Army tank! It’s not too late to save Santa Barbara! Staff bureaucrats control Santa Barbara decisions: they ignore the purpose and maintenance of public streets and they’ve destroyed downtown. Replace “do more” Council Reps who waste tax money, raid Measure C Funds, and are close to depleting emergency reserves — with proven successful turnaround business executives in open seats D4,5,and 6. Voters: Take back control. Consider expanding Council to elect 1 or 2 City at-large reps to ensure consideration of the entire City in decision making. Excellent summation Scott! Appreciate the crisis reminder. Santa Monica’s rent control has also failed. Imagine my Aunt who pays $650/mo while neighbors pay up to $9400/mo for their 2-bed ocean view apartment to subsidize hers and others.
Why don’t voters think 2-steps ahead about unintended consequences? Why are tax payers tolerant of such high incompetence of elected reps?
Truth! Everywhere one looks across the Democrat run blue cities and states we see the living definition of Einstein‘s definition of insanity. Socialism has not worked in Russia, nor Venezuela, and it is not going to work in New York or Santa Barbara. For people to stand by and watch this happen and just say la la la la la is truly tragic.