In the City of Santa Barbara, more than one-half of all residents only own one car or no car at all. And in the Eastside of Santa Barbara, those numbers are even higher. There is a great concentration of pedestrians in the Eastside, people of all ages who walk to school, walk to the bus stop for work, and walk to their friends’ and families’ homes. 

If you talk with any Eastside resident on the street, they will tell you that they do not feel safe walking in their neighborhood. Sparse streetlights, speeding cars, and unsafe crosswalks lare the main issues that are adversely affecting pedestrian safety in the Eastside. Most recently, on October 7th, a 15-year-old was struck by a truck while crossing Milpas and Ortega. We are calling for immediate action to make the corner of Milpas and Ortega safer, and we also are calling on the City of Santa Barbara to improve overall walking conditions to the Eastside.

This is important because we are all pedestrians, and we all deserve to walk safely in our neighborhood!