Letter to the Editor

At last, something has happened to give me a great big laugh.  Yesterday, the Santa Barbara News-Press has a front page A-1 story entitled “Going Underground.” It is about a long, expensive attempt by upper Chapala Street residents to have the existing ugly utility poles placed underground. Apparently the campaign described in the story involved creating an assessment district funded solely by the property owners.

Scott Steepleton’s story contains the following paragraph: “The undulating streets provide none of the residents with a primary view of the Pacific Ocean or the Sierra Padre Mountains, according to the report, so improvements to the viewshed are not a factor.”

Now, have we ever heard of the Sierra Padre Mountains? I’ve heard of a Madre, but not a Padre. In any event, the mountains seen by S.B. residents as our gorgeous backdrop are the Santa Ynez Mountains. Hah, I wonder if Steepleton himself made this gaffe, or was it the report he referred to. Did the consultant or City staff write it? Scary, but I laughed out loud.

A week ago Sunday there was a story about Danish Days and some entertainers featured. The reporter referred several times to Danes as “the Dutch.” Those of you who don’t subscribe to the N-P do not know what you are missing, or maybe you do and you obtain your laughs elsewhere.

The magnificent Clark Estate, with an estimated value of $100 million, was recently subject of much national news. Although it belongs to the mysterious 104-year-old heiress Hugette Clark, and is not known to be for sale, the City of Santa Barbara apparently has big plans—if not the funding—for the property.

Who knew that this General Plan, with its motto, “Living Within our Resources,” includes purchasing a $100 million estate?

Check out the following, found in “You Plan Santa Barbara: the Open Space, Parks & Recreation Element of the Draft Final General Plan”:

“OP 2.5 Acquisition of Existing Buildings for Community Use. Establish funding mechanisms for acquisition of existing buildings and property (e.g. Clark Estate, Army Reserve National Guard Armory) for community use or establishment of a new community center.”

With plans like these, we citizens better take a good, long look at what the Planning Commission and City Council will be voting on in the weeks ahead.

You can read the entire document HERE.

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Thank you.

The shelves are stocked and the lights are on, but there are only 22 parking spaces (and a back alley) for the liquor Super Store in an already congested part of town.

Last week a Spanish club named Mecca discotheque was forced to change its name from Mecca after sparking a furious reaction around the Islamic world.

Did you know… Santa Barbara has its own establishment named Mecca?

It’s now called the Mecca Sports Bar, and it’s at 512 North Milpas.

Another example that mixed-used buildings don’t work well in Southern Santa Barbara County….

almost all of the buildings and condominiums in Lavendar Court sit vacant three+ years later. The developer of Carpinteria’s largest mixed-use project in decades, has  filed two Chapter 11 bankruptcies.

The beautiful, distinctive bike was locked up to another bike—and a tree—while the two boys went down the steps to the beach to find some rocks, shells and whatever else a couple of 14-year-olds find interesting. An hour later, the lock was cut, the bike was gone and the boy was heartbroken by the loss of the bike he had customized with a colorful array of accessories and specialized parts. He had sold his drum set and spent his Christmas money on the bike.

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Travelers coming in and out of the Santa Barbara airport will likely be surprised by the size and bulk of the new Airline Terminal Project. The new terminal towers over the single-story, red-tiled terminal, that made the Santa Barbara airport home.

Prior to construction of the new terminal, Rudy Maxa of the USA Today called the Santa Barbara Airport onet of the ten favorite airports to wait out a flight. According to Maxa, “the Santa Barbara Airport is a smaller airport without many luxury amenities, but the coffee shop has an outdoor balcony with unbelievable views of the Pacific. It’s a very soothing way to wait out a flight.”

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An Atlas 5 rocket launched last night at Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying a top-secret spy satellite. The launch is the 604th overall Atlas mission in U.S. history.
Video below…

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Loren Mason, whose campaign for the Santa Barbara School Board is being run by Davies Communications, has strategically placed a single yard sign near each of the local schools.

Column by Barbara Hirsch

Commuting makes up about 15% of daily travel in the U.S. But it would seem that its toll on roads, vehicles, drivers and carbon emissions would be a much greater percentage. Here is a snapshot of current commuting and some trends, both nationally and locally.

As of 2008, 76% of workers drive alone to work, 5% take public transit, 11% carpool, with the remaining 8% telecommuting, riding bikes, walking and riding motorcycles.
New York City and San Francisco are the only large cities where more than a quarter of residents use other means besides their sovs (single occupancy vehicles).
27% of commuters work outside their county of residence. Not a surprise to learn that the number of workers whose commute is over 60 minutes has increased over the decade, as has public transit and bike riding, though with much smaller increases in these alternative forms.

In Santa Barbara County, 71% drive alone, over 15% carpool or vanpool, close to 4% bus and 5% walk or bike (and the remaining telecommuting or riding a motorcycle). The number driving alone has decreased, partially due to an increase in Hispanic residents.
10% of Santa Barbara County residents work outside the county, but a march larger percentage of surrounding counties do, with the number of commuters coming into the Santa Barbara area estimated at 30,000, as stated previously.

Here’s to somehow improving one’s commute.
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