• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 8 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 1 )

• 

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

No on Measure B : 9/29/2009

"Dumb?" There may have been some spirited debate on this subject and perhaps dumb has been used but I recall comments on both sides being detailed and persuasive. It is nice that you quote the the WPA and it's overly syrupy and floral comments but for your editorial to repeat them without some balance about the failures caused primarily "visual" guides are as irresponsible as the News Press and it's editorials. The people proposing this measure are part of associations in this city that are in the bad habit of blaming developers for everything that ails this community. In some cases, as council and committee members they have degraded Santa Barbara's original neighborhoods and created disparities. The WPA and CPA are not saints. Their drive-by assessments of Tientsin rugs lawns is as superficial as their own Measure B. Please voters consider getting out of your own bubble, take a look around and consider that the petition collectors while hanging out at an asphalt "organic" market, collecting signatures may have provided the signers a very lopsided and narrow petition to sign. I am grateful for our local architects and developers who really do go through a punishing process to produce interesting developments that anywhere else on this planet would be enjoyed. Before you vote on this measure please "take the long road and walk it." Vote no on Measure B.

Don McDermott

sky firmly in place : 9/29/2009

Thank you. You have it exactly right. It is indeed the sense of place that's at risk with high-rise and over-development. It's the fear of loss of neighborhood, of seeing what happened at the Brinkerhoff neighborhood with the looming masses along Chapala Street. If it could be there in a historic district, it could be anywhere. I helped gather signatures and we went all over town, not just at farmers' markets, but wherever people gathered. We could have gotten many, many more signatures had we not asked, "city resident?" What was striking to me was how many people thought of themselves as city residents, even as they clearly lived in Goleta, or elsewhere in the south coast county. People love and identify with this city. We hope that Measure B passes overwhelmingly: I think it will. It will show city government that the people of this city, young and old, rich and poor have indeed had enough of business as usual. Thanks for the clarity of your editorial, pointing out the missing stewardship, the crying need for it.

BRC

John : 9/29/2009

Plus I'm sure it doesn't hurt that growth limitations keep Santa Barbara what it is already: rich, old, and white. Keep out the poor and the Mexicans, huh? Typical Santa Barbara politics.

john

Message : 10/2/2009

Universities do a poor job training students who major in Planning and Development. They have a very analytical approach where city residents are only relevant if they can be heard over the normal "special interests for profit" voices who never miss a meeting or chance to define issues to their favor. So when regular people do something on their own, planners get nervous because it doesn't fit into their limited model. Ph.D. professors come up with theories on how to engineer human beings lives, but their theories don't work with human nature, they only solve problems if humans are mechanical parts of a system. When planners and politicians read intellectual books about various growth theories like the "smart growth" belief system they disconnect with people and start following ideologies that are disconnected from the human condition. People can say what they want, but it's not going to stop concerned citizens from protecting what they love. Human beings natural state is in nature, and when you try to change that you create the mental and physical problems that come with the urban environment. Many Santa Barbarans are still connected to the natural environment and want to protect the balance that keeps them healthy. If you grew up in a big city or an apartment building you may think what I'm saying is nuts and makes no sense. Anyway, Measure B is more about saving our soul, and the City Planning and Development Department along with out City Council needs to really do some soul-searching because most of the people who live and work here, are seriously wondering if they still have one.

John Muir's Coastal Cousin

Yes on Measure B : 10/5/2009

I grew up in an apartment in a big city and that is precisely why I choose to live and work in Santa Barbara. I totally agree with this editorial. I am sharing it with my friends and telling them to vote Yes on B.

Cathie

Vote NO on MEASURE 8 : 10/10/2009

WE NEED to keep our culture of our real city and we need to look at the future for this one. i grew up in city for 30 yrs now i dont thing it needs changes in the way it looks

bo

Today's Eyesore is Tomorrows Landmark : 10/12/2009

I'm a native Santa Barbaran. I am also anti-B and a young person (who is struggling to survive in an expensive City that thinks it's still a small town). I think that preserving the character of SB and allowing buildings to remain around 60 feet tall aren't mutually exclusive. Today's eyesore is tomorrow's landmark. I don't know anyone who's property value has decreased because they have a view of the Granada. Property values in Santa Barbara don't really go down (long term). I think we need to collectively get over ourselves, and start problem solving rather than have some sort of blanket rule.

WWW

Praying : 11/2/2009

If this meaure is passed it will ruin my dreams of a 6 story dispensary. What we need in this town is a peaceful place to smoke gods medicine, and have a peaceful view of the ocean. Imagine the attraction to our beautiful town, if we had the equivelent of the Mall of America of a medicinal mecca for all of the world to enjoy! I say we paint a "light green line", defining the place where people can stay at "high-ground" avoiding life's republican tsunamis.

Green Buildings