Curb extensions at Chapala and De La Guerra

They are in the news and in our neighborhoods.  If you do any walking around town you’ve likely used one.  What’s all the excitement about?  Curb extensions!   Curb extensions are the extension of the sidewalk at an intersection, effectively reducing crosswalk distance and increasing safety for walkers.  Once you have crossed a street with curb extensions, it is hard to understand why we don’t have more of them as they are such an improvement for both walkers and drivers.  Click here for more information and what you can do to get involved.

Santa Barbara Walks hosts Walking Wednesdays every 4th Wednesday of the month at 5:30 pm.  Each month features a different

Designer Anthony Grumbine discussing the details of various architecture styles in Santa Barbara

theme and guest leader but the goal is the same: get us out walking and enjoying our community together.

Join us for our upcoming walk on Wednesday, June 23 at 5:30 pm.  Meet at the Fielding Institute (2112 Santa Barbara Street) to join guest tour leader Anthony Grumbine (Harrison Design Associates) to learn more about the architecture and design found in Santa Barbara.  Beginning at the historic Winsor Soule Hodges Residence (currently the Fielding Institute), the walking tour will include a walk-through of this beautiful example of 1920’s Spanish Colonial Revival estate.  The route will then continue down Santa Barbara Street, to East Constance, then to Anacapa, to upper State Street, and finally back to the Fielding Institute.  Along

the route we will see a wonderful variety of architecture styles, from a Francis Underhill Stripped Classicism, to a Richard Neutra mid-century modern, to  French Norman, and Dutch Colonial.  Both the variety of particular styles, as well as the many

Architect Jeff Shelton leading the group in the courtyard of El Andaluz

hybrids, will allow participants to sharpen their architecture knowledge, while enjoying a lovely walk in Santa Barbara’s upper East and Upper State Street regions.

Previous walks included an Everyday Art Walk with Ellen Durham, architectural tour with Jeff Shelton, Trees of Santa Barbara with Bob Muller and historical architecture with Anthony Grumbine.

Stay tuned for details of upcoming walks which will feature hidden stone walkways of the Riviera, urban wine tasting, botany of Alice Keck gardens, Devereux Slough, edible gardens and more!

First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal addressing the crowd

Under threat of rain, community stakeholders came out Wednesday, December 17th to celebrate the recent Federal Safe Routes to School grant that was announced to build a

Eva Inbar of COAST, expressing support for the newly funded path

½ mile decomposed granite pathway along the west side of San Ysidro Road from Montecito Union School to North Jameson Road. This path has been a collaborative effort from the start, according to many of the event’s speakers, which included County Supervisor Salud Carbajal, Montecito Union School Superintendent Dick Douglas, Montecito Association President Bill Palladini, and Montecito Trails Foundation

President John Venable, who has committed to maintaining the path.  Appreciation of the process and the partnerships between many entities, which also included County Public Works staff Matt Dobberteen and Bert Johnson, was echoed by many of those in attendance.  As noted by COAST’s Eva Inbar, “the project was based on a remarkable collaboration between many parties” including previous COAST Executive Director Katharine Bechtel who worked on the project.

Parent and advocate, Stephen Murdoch and daughters, commenting on the collaborative process

This path will not only provide a safer place for students on their way to school but as MUS parent and project initiator Stephen Murdoch noted, “the path will link pedestrians of every age to Miramar Beach, Upper and Lower Manning Parks, Laguna Blanca Lower School and the shopping area of the Upper Village”.
Supervisor Carbajal was one of several who stressed that we should celebrate the success of the San Ysidro path and use the momentum to move forward in identifying other locations where we can focus our efforts next. COAST’s newest project, Santa Barbara Walks, will be working to improve pedestrian access to schools, parks, community centers and other public places throughout the South Coast.

The event was a great reminder to the community of the positive impacts that are possible when we work together towards a common goal.

Under threat of rain, community stakeholders came out Wednesday, December 17th to celebrate the recent Federal Safe Routes to School grant that was announced to build a ½ mile decomposed granite pathway along the west side of San Ysidro Road from Montecito Union School to North Jameson Road. This path has been a collaborative effort from the start, according to many of the event’s speakers, which included County Supervisor Salud Carbajal, Montecito Union School Superintendent Dick Douglas, Montecito Association President Bill Palladini, and Montecito Trails Foundation President John Venable, who has committed to maintaining the path.  Appreciation of the process and the partnerships between many entities, which also included County Public Works staff Matt Dobberteen and Bert Johnson, was echoed by many of those in attendance.  As noted by COAST’s Eva Inbar, “the project was based on a remarkable collaboration between many parties” including previous COAST Executive Director Katharine Bechtel who worked on the project.

This path will not only provide a safer place for students on their way to school but as MUS parent and project initiator Stephen Murdoch noted, “the path will link pedestrians of every age to Miramar Beach, Upper and Lower Manning Parks, Laguna Blanca Lower School and the shopping area of the Upper Village”.
Supervisor Carbajal was one of several who stressed that we should celebrate the success of the San Ysidro path and use the momentum to move forward in identifying other locations where we can focus our efforts next. COAST’s newest project, Santa Barbara Walks, will be working to improve pedestrian access to schools, parks, community centers and other public places throughout the South Coast.

The event was a great reminder to the community of the positive impacts that are possible when we work together towards a common goal.