Closing a street to cars may feature in Santa Cruz City Council downtown economic plan later this month

Each Wednesday evening for the past 11 months, Kevin Norton has gathered a group of residents, many times at Lupulo Craft Beer House, who share a passion for improving the experience of downtown Santa Cruz.

Formerly of San Jose, Norton has lived in Santa Cruz for only a little over two years, but he and the locals he’s been meeting with see untapped potential for downtown as a more vibrant gathering space. The “downtown experience” can incorporate any number of things, but this standing Wednesday meeting has developed a singular focus: improve walkability and build support for closing some downtown streets to cars.

The group, which has become known as Pacific for People, has been motivated by questions around community health, and how the built environment can be either welcoming to sociability and gathering — crucial elements to a thriving downtown — or hostile to it. They point to urban design studies showing that cars make downtown spaces less friendly and harder for people to enjoy. They want Pacific Avenue, and thus downtown, to be for people, not automobiles.

“People in walkable communities are healthier in mind, body and spirit,” said Norton, who holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Florida. “There is an incredible number of people who cross through downtown in the summer, but it’s like a sieve, and it’d be great to get them to stay longer.” 

After nearly a year of meeting at Lupulo, surveying downtown business owners, employees and patrons, and working with city leaders, the group has the chance this month to move its idea from the public house and into the house of the public. 

Vice Mayor Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson (District 3) told Lookout via text message on Thursday that she and Councilmember Scott Newsome (D4) plan to bring a downtown economic development package to the city council on April 22. Although she did not provide details, Kalantari-Johnson said the package could include direction to staff about exploring a downtown street closure pilot program. 

Initially, Pacific for People wanted to begin with closing two street sections during summer weekends: Pacific Avenue between Cathcart and Lincoln streets, a stretch Norton referred to as “Restaurant Row” because it includes haunts such as Kianti’s Pizza & Pasta Bar, Pizza My Heart, Shogun Japanese Restaurant and Nick the Greek. The other was Cooper Street, which runs parallel to Abbott Square and bridges Front Street and Pacific Avenue.

However, the Cooper Street version received more support and momentum from local businesses. Kalantari-Johnson said it wasn’t yet firm that she and Newsome would include the street closure idea in their package, but if they do, it will be Cooper Street on summer weekends. Newsome, who represents downtown residents and business owners on the city council, did not return Lookout’s several calls and emails seeking clarification about the economic development proposal and the street closure idea. Jorian Wilkins, head of the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz, also did not return Lookout’s request for information. 

Norton and Pacific for People’s proposal comes at an inflection point for downtown Santa Cruz. The city has decided to focus housing development in the neighborhood. Yet, as more cranes and construction equipment move in, more businesses have been moving out. 

By Lookout’s own survey of ground-floor storefronts along Pacific Avenue, Cedar Street and all the streets in between, downtown Santa Cruz had more than 45 commercial vacancies in February. Cities across the U.S. are facing similar questions about their own downtowns, as e-commerce corporations have cut into small businesses, and a lingering post-pandemic work-from-home culture has diminished midday lunch crowds. 

“The conditions are changing for brick-and-mortar stores, and more of our dollars are being siphoned by the likes of Amazon and DoorDash,” Norton said. Because of this, people no longer need to physically travel to a downtown or central business district. The group believes one key to vibrancy, then, is creating a place where people want to gather. 

Some downtown business leaders have backed the idea of pedestrian-only streets, including owners or representatives of 13 businesses along Cooper Street who signed Pacific for People’s petition in support. 

When Norton presented the petition to Wafi Amin, the owner of Mediterranean restaurant Laili on Cooper Street, Amin was excited. The idea showed a vision he said has been lacking for downtown, where, outside of Abbott Square, there are few places to gather. 

“I see such beautiful potential for downtown, as a very vibrant place with people coming from everywhere to spend time, having lunch and dinner, shopping,” Amin said. “But I feel like downtown is really down. It’s a little bit depressing. I don’t see a vision, and I feel like the city doesn’t really care.” 

However, while Amin supports a larger network of closed pedestrian-only streets downtown, he does not agree with the idea to close only Cooper Street. Laili is the only standalone restaurant on Cooper Street, and is popular for its airy, lush back patio. He said he wouldn’t put tables on Cooper Street if it was closed, and argued that Abbott Square already has a lot of outdoor seating for its restaurants. 

“Closing Cooper Street won’t do anything for a larger vision of bringing people downtown,” Amin said. “I feel like it doesn’t make sense.” 

More than a dozen other California cities, including Santa Barbara, Sunnyvale and Santa Monica, have implemented pedestrian-only streets. During the pandemic, Santa Cruz tried one on Pacific Avenue between Cathcart and Lincoln streets, but the pilot was not extended. 

Norton said closing the street would allow the energetic atmosphere of Abbott Square on a weekend to spill out more into public view, which he argued is paramount for creating a gathering space. In the current configuration, Abbott Square is contained in a plaza with walls on three sides. Norton said when he first moved to Santa Cruz, he was excited to find Abbott Square, but it took him seven months because he couldn’t see it from the street as he drove by downtown. 

The end goal, Norton said, isn’t necessarily to close Pacific Avenue to cars, but rather to figure out what is going to bring people to downtown, and keep them there. According to a Pacific for People survey of 104 downtown visitors, residents and employees, more than 95% of people supported the idea of closing streets when the area is used as a space for people to gather, as well as enjoy events and outdoor dining. 

“I don’t know exactly what is going to be the best arrangement for Santa Cruz, but in order to get there, you have to innovate and experiment and gather data and see what people think about it,” Norton said.

FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to reflect that Vice Mayor Kalantari-Johnson said the April 22 economic development package could include the Cooper Street proposal, not that she expected the package to include it, as previously reported.

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