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J. Livingston's avatar

I assume the "old State Street" was a source of revenues for the city government - retail sales taxes, property taxes, special district taxes on businesses, etc. What was that previous dollar amount. How much did it fluctuate or was it in permanent decline and no longer of any concern for the city budget.

How much did the "old State Street" riddled with vagrants, vandalism, bar zone fights, gang turf wars, shoplifting crimes, and required clean ups cost the city in increased law enforcement demands? What was the real net of the "old downtown" for the city.

How will any of the "new plans" provide equivalent income streams or even enhanced net income streams? Who is monitoring this feature of State Street planning and measuring the offered alternatives for their projected city revenue producing potentials? Have downtown property owners had their properties reassessed and applied for reduced property taxes due to the considerable loss of their original inherent value? Or are they assessed at much lower property tax rates anyway due to no ownership turnover.

If there is no enhanced revenue-producing value to the city budget, what is the point of the city even getting involved in any of these State Street plans. Just leave it to the property owners to make their own prudent best business decisions for themselves. Strip joints, neon entertainment allies, check cashing storefronts, e-bike drag races using pedestrians as human bowling pins?

Let the animal spirits of the marketplace decide the fate of State Street. Like every other failed "pedestrian mall" that has been tried elsewhere. Instead of spending any more millions on "consultants", send each committee members to visit various small town downtowns and observe first hand what makes them work or fail. Then apply what they learned to the peculiar nature of our own 10 block long former downtown.

But first disabuse any committee member of their romantic exposures to town plazas during any prior short-term European vacation. We want a working downtown - a one stop center for local residents; not a one time visit for armies of tourists.

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Anne West's avatar

On a side note a good friend who lived in SB first almost 30 but moved back to Italy 5 years ago came to visit I told her walk up State street. Her assessment. “It looks like crao. Smells like piss even inside some of the store. The bikes were dangerous.” She was very disappointed. She also told me that her Italian dentist came to CA and told him to visit Santa Barbara, which she raved about. He did and was grossly disappointed, not understanding why she was so excited about it.

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