Santa Maria residents will have a second opportunity to run, walk, bike, and skate on a portion of Main Street next year when it closes for an Open Streets event in late March.
The event’s organizer, Carlos Escobedo, announced the 2020 event during a presentation at the June 4 City Council meeting where he discussed the turnout for the event that took place earlier this year. He said the event introduced attendees to businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations in the community.
“Resources are out there, but that link was kind of missing between the community and those resources,” Escobedo said.
On March 31, Main Street was closed between Broadway and Blosser roads. More than 200 booths, various activity providers, and about 20,000 participants filled the closed street during the event, said Kent Epperson, director of traffic solutions for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, which hosted the event.
In addition to the numerous activities, the event was an opportunity to promote the small businesses located on Main Street, Escobedo said.
The owner of Xtreme Electronics, Roger Galvan, spoke during the council meeting about how the event helped his local store. He said having thousands of people walk past his store introduced his business to a lot of new customers.
Galvan said events highlighting the locally owned small businesses in Santa Maria are important because most people are inclined to shop at the national chains in shopping centers such as Enos Ranch and the Crossroads on Betteravia Road.
“I’m a small business owner and, you know what, we feel like we’re neglected on West Main,” Galvan said. “Look at the mall, it’s empty.”
While the event helped small businesses, hosting free events downtown also benefits members of the community, Santa Maria-Bonita School District Assistant Superintendent Mark Muller said during the meeting.
“This also was about as wonderful an event as you can have for people of limited means, and that was the way it was for many of our families,” Muller said.
This article appears in Jun 13-20, 2019.
