The State Street Master Plan is on the road to success after the Santa Barbara City Council approved the latest version of the proposal in a milestone hearing on Tuesday, marking a major step forward for a flexible, pedestrian-focused plan that has been years in the making.

At the end of a seven-hour council hearing, it was clear that the majority of council — with the exception of Mayor Randy Rowse — was in favor of moving forward with more-refined master plan created by renowned urbanist Stefanos Polyzoides, who worked closely with State Street Master Planner Tess Harris and city staff to distill the years of public meetings, community input, and previous council direction into a Santa Barbara–specific “flex street” orientation with retractable bollards to allow access for emergency and service vehicles.

The only major change made by council was to remove the proposal to retract the bollards daily to allow private vehicle access from the hours of 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. After receiving a wave of concerns about potentially introducing late-night drivers onto State Street, the council decided to take the provision out of the language of the plan.

Polyzoides and Harris managed to convert years of previous input into a tangible plan that took into account not only the post-pandemic State Street planning effort, but the decades of city planning decisions that have led the city to its current downtown layout. Their presentation at Tuesday’s hearing laid out a vision that won support of councilmembers, pedestrian and bicycle advocates, and some residents who had criticized earlier versions of the plan.

Harris acknowledged the heated debate at previous hearings between community members who wanted a pedestrian-focused downtown and those who wanted to bring cars back to State Street. 

“People don’t argue this much about a place they’ve given up on,” Harris said.

Harris and Polyzoides argued that the newest plan should be seen as the next step in the city’s long history of bringing more people downtown, building on the 1964 general plan, the 1969 streetscape improvement, and expansion of the business improvement district — all of which worked to slowly make State Street a more pedestrian-friendly experience.

Polyzoides said Santa Barbara’s decision to remove all parking from the right-of-way to build off-street lots for all of downtown was a revolutionary step to center pedestrians. The downtown also has a unique “butterfly pattern” layout, he said, that funnels bicyclists toward State Street, where there is a much higher concentration of bicycles than other California cities.

These decisions all led to the current state of downtown, he said, where pedestrians and bicyclists create an organic vibrancy that helped the city survive through major challenges like the pandemic and the rise of e-commerce.

“I think the decision to go in this direction is an acknowledgment of the functional complexity of this place,” Polyzoides said.

The city received more than 600 public comments prior to the April 28 hearing, and nearly 40 community members showed up to speak.

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Homebuyers showed "cautious optimism" in April as pending home sales increased 1.4% from the previous month and grew 3.2% year-over-year, according to National Association of Realtors data released Tuesday.

Growth — despite uncertainty: In a sign that the housing market may be stabilizing, pending home sales increased on a monthly basis in all major geographic regions but the South and rose on an annual basis everywhere except the Northeast.

"Buyers are coming out with cautious optimism despite increasing economic uncertainty and a slight rise in mortgage rates," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "Demand will easily be even higher once mortgage rates retreat to the levels they were at earlier this year."

Regional movements: The Northeast saw the largest month-over-month gains, with pending home sales up 6.6%. Meanwhile, pending sales were up 3% in the Midwest, 0.4% in the West — and down 0.7% in the South.

On an annual basis, pending sales inched up the most in the South, rising 4.7%. The West saw an annual gain of 3.8% while the Midwest posted a 2.7% increase and the Northeast saw a 0.6% decline.

More inventory needed: Though home prices are generally higher compared to one year ago and fewer price discounts are being offered, interest in the market has grown, Yun said. 

Over 1 in 3 (35.4%) homesellers slashed their asking price in April, down from 35.6% in March and below the record high of 36.6% recorded last August, according to new Redfin data.

But more inventory will be needed to avoid having home price growth outpace wage growth — or the homeownership rate could suffer, Yun cautioned. "All efforts need to be focused on boosting housing supply," he said.

Growth may be short-lived: April's hopeful growth in pending sales may not last amid persistently elevated mortgage rates and the high cost of homeownership.

"On a year-over-year basis, the improvement in rates compared to 2025 is shrinking," Bankrate Financial Analyst Stephen Kates, CFP, said in a statement. "Rates have only risen further in May, setting up a potentially disappointing May report."

Inflation fluctuations over the next few months will also impact rates — and how much consumers are willing to spend, according to Realtor.com Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones.

"Higher inflation generally puts upward pressure on mortgage rates, which have already started drifting back above 6.3% in early May," Jones said. "Beyond rates, inflation running ahead of wage growth means household budgets are being squeezed, a dynamic that could dampen buyer confidence heading into the traditionally active summer months."

Hope for the end of 2026: Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said home sales will likely "move sideways for the next couple of quarters before beginning to gradually increase late in the year," adding that she expects the Federal Reserve to cut short-term interest rates around that time. 

Despite consumers' continued economic uncertainty, housing market conditions are largely better for buyers than this time last year, with inventory slightly up, price growth cooling and incomes rising, First American Senior Economist Sam Williamson said. 

"Those conditions could support firmer sales activity in the second half of 2026 if mortgage rates stabilize and broader economic uncertainty eases," Williamson said.

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PR Newswire

California home sales rose in April as the statewide median home price hit a new record, fueled by lower mortgage rates early in the month and strong market activity in higher-priced segments, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.
 

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California climbed 3.9 percent from March and increased 4.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. April's annualized sales growth pace from last year represents the largest annual increase in seven months, according to data collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. This annualized figure reflects the number of homes that would be sold in 2026 if April's sales pace continued throughout the year, with adjustments made for typical seasonal patterns. The jump completely erased the cumulative sales losses from the first three months of the year, leaving year-to-date sales essentially flat compared to 2025. However, overall sales remained below the 300,000 mark for the 43rd consecutive month.

"April's year-over-year increase in home sales is a welcome sign that buyer demand remains resilient as we move deeper into the spring homebuying season," said C.A.R. President Tamara Suminski, a Southern California broker and REALTOR®. "While elevated mortgage rates and ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East continue to weigh on the market, California buyers and sellers are still finding opportunities, and that speaks to the underlying strength of housing demand."

Driven by a shifting mix of sales toward high-end properties, the statewide median home price set a new record of $914,810 in April, a 2.9 percent monthly increase. April's median home price also marks the third consecutive month of year-over-year growth and represents the first time the median price has crossed the $900,000 threshold since May 2025.

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