Is This The End of Ventura's Pedestrian Mall?- Living in Ventura

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

What would you like to happen with Main Street? Please comment below. Buying or Selling in Ventura County, California?🏄 📱 Call/Text Keziah & Bart 805-256-2813 😀Just a short conversation to see if we will be a good fit to work together 👍

[@kennynunez6792]

AND this is why Ventura and California as a whole fail. If there is a mandate to open, then open it. I would say, when I visited recently I was blown away how inviting the downtown area was. I was more adventurous to visit/shop stores that I would usually ignore. When the streets were opened, before the world ended, I would park, eat and leave. I never looked over any stores. To me they were just part of the scenery as I drove away.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

It sounds like you had a great experience on the mall and I agree, the open streets didn't encourage me to explore either!

[@SeanSalas]

I suggest opening the street to outdoor dining, like making it one-way instead of two way. My concern is my 83-year-old mother-in-law, who used to love downtown dining and theatergoing. Unfortunately, the closure has made it difficult for her. Now, we resort to the collection movie theater.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

I like how you are thinking outside of the box. Did you send this idea to city council?

[@TammyT-z5k]

I used to live in downtown Ventura in the 90's and I can say having it closed to traffic has made it safer and more inviting. I do not think opening it will improve business. I think the idea of people wanting to park right in front of a business is confusing because parking was always hard to get. Face it, there are only a few spots in front of any business. In addition, getting out and getting steps in is healthy. Other countries love walking, love pedestrian friendly shopping and dining. I hope they figure out how to keep it open before it goes back to the less friendly, less frequented space because some people imagine it was better.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

Thank you for sharing your experiences, we appreciate the insight and agree!

[@birgitjohnson3668]

I hope it remains closed to traffic. Maybe they could offer some kind of a shuttle up and down the middle of the street. Personally I like it closed and I don’t mind walking to all the different merchants up and down Main Street.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

I feel the same way and thought a shuttle would be a great compromise.

[@B_Dubbin]

This should 100% be up to the businesses that reside there. I think the closure is pretty awesome and hopefully it will stay for a while

[@xXRaptureReadyXx]

The only benefit to opening it back up would be for property owners I suppose? Mainstreet feels so much nicer without cars. These public spaces for people to enjoy are so limited in America, I hope they protect this one.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We feel the same way! Well said.

[@groses-ng1ie]

good video 👍🏼

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

Thank you so much! We are so happy you enjoyed the video. Would you like the mall to remain closed or open it up to cars?

[@GregKennedy-x2l]

I don't have an opinion regarding continued closure or reopening. I do have an opinion about the absence of design standards for the parklets should it remain open. The current mish mash thrown together during the pandemic is an eyesore with no unifying theme that reflects the beauty of Ventura's Historic Main Street.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

The good news is if it does stay closed to cars they are going to have a set of plans that will support the feel of Ventura's Historic Main Street.

[@BrianPaster]

It would be a shame to allow vehicles through the pedestrian zone. Also stupid for business. The restaurants can serve more people. Its great during summer. This has been a boom for Ventura

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We agree but it looks like it will be up to the property owners.

[@gregoryhoffman6828]

The downtown pedestrian mall is one of the BEST things that has happened to Ventura in a long time. Relaxed dining, music, people meeting each other, businesses doing great. Before the pedestrian mall outdoor dining was miserable, parking difficult. I often chose not to do business downtown.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

It's amazing to see how much it has brought to the community! I was walking around last night with a friend. We then walked down to the beach and walked the boardwalk. Ventura is such a special place.

[@kathynavarro-sochel755]

I linger longer than I used to when it was an open street.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We do too.

[@susanslapinartisawayoflife]

There are so many good reasons to keep the area pedestrian friendly.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

Yes, we think so too!

[@susanslapinartisawayoflife]

@@livinginventuracounty1071 :)

[@25tolifeinSimiValley]

What exactly is the debate? The few naysayers featured in the video didn't make any arguments for the benefits of reopening.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We felt the same way but it does seem like ultimately the property owners, who currently want it open to cars, will have the final say due to the law.

[@alyssaturek1701]

I feel it would be more beneficial for it to remain closed. My husband and I (residents since 2017) rarely went down there before it closed. Rarely found parking on main street, and on the rare ocassion we did, it was near impossible to even pull out of the parking spot due to constant flow of traffic (many people just using it as a main street to get through town), often trying to avoid getting hit by drivers driving through and not allowing us to back out of parking spots. More often than not had to park on a side street, other parking lot, or parking garage anyway. Parking had already been difficult pre closure. Not to mention it's a lot cleaner not having to smell exhaust of all the cars driving by, or the loud souped up cars that people would drive down the street just to show off their rides. We enjoy letting our toddler run around when we are walking to let him burn off energy and not having to worry about cars in the street. After covid, a lot of businesses in general closed. People are still struggling financially. Less people are going out to eat, less people are spending money to shop for non essentials. The street closure is not to blame. If the streets are open, less exposure to businesses because less people are walking around on foot, just driving by. People having to dodge cars when walking across crosswalks to cross the street. Look how many accidents in the past year of cars crashing into the barriers. Imagine what could have happened if the street was open. If it opens, people are still not going to spend money because of how expensive everything is now a days. As for it being "dead": people work during the week, many people have taken up second and third jobs just to survive. Of course it's going to be "dead" on a week day afternoon/evening. People are working. Weekends are always packed. I think reopening would do more harm than good for these businesses, especially the ones that are already struggling.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

Well said! We were not here before covid. Thank you for letting us know how it was before. We agree with you on so many of your comments. Thank you.

[@paulgithens635]

Of course, the handicapped are left behind, but who cares.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

I believe if they do decide they can legally keep it a pedestrian mall then they will be able to put in place things to help with making it more accessible to the handicapped. Having it like it currently is makes it hard for businesses and the city to invest the money that needs to be spent to make it work for everyone....

[@paulgithens635]

@@livinginventuracounty1071 If the closure to vehicle traffic is such a good idea, why not close main street entirely? Better yet Thompson too.

[@terrylamb333]

ADA: American Disability Act. Just because of the dismissive attitude. And City Council does what it wants anyway. Used to be a nice little seaside town. Thanks a lot for bringing Los Angeles.

[@ChrisChamberlain-t6e]

Love Main Street with no cars. When we were looking at cities to move to, Ventura stood out by having the Pedestrian only zone.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We know, this is such an exceptional part of Ventura.

[@MotoXplor]

Personally, I avoid the area because I can't go through it like it used to be. I used to frequent some of the restaurants but not anymore. I know I'm in the minority, but I liked it better before.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

Thank you for your input. It is good to hear from both sides.

[@MurseJay]

Why not do both? Open it from Sunday night till Thursday night, then close it from Friday morning to Sunday.. everybody gets what they want..

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

This was one of the options. Some business owners did not like it because they want to invest money in their sitting areas. It is hard and expensive to have a sitting area that needs to be stored, removed and set up. They would also still need to have over 50% of property owners agree to this...I personally like how you are thinking though.

[@bobmason1499]

I will never go to Happy Place, what a joke!!!, for the reason to bring back cars!!!!! No more cars in downtown Ventura, ever😀!!!

[@theheroco]

I have been here for 22 years, and I feel that the downtown closure has been a welcomed addition. Is it perfect, no but with a collaborative effort I think it could be better. The subject of rent came up and there is a huge issue. Owners of the properties would rather sit on a vacant property and take the tax write-off than work with local businesses to build a strong local, brick and mortar foundation. It's unfortunate you use this as an opportunity to promote your real estate business, especially when you are promoting people to move here when the locals are struggling to afford to purchase a home. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what you do, but as someone that lives and works in the area, has worked very hard to save money to buy a house, only to lose to outside investment groups who just want ANOTHER rental. The content was great and informative, but is it genuine?

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective. We understand your frustration with the rising cost of living and the challenges faced by locals in securing affordable housing. We agree that the Pedestrian Mall has the potential to be a vibrant hub for the community. It's disheartening to see properties sitting vacant while businesses and people struggle. We know that we love going down to the mall and walking around and shopping. If we had a choice it would stay that way. We hope that with collaboration between property owners, local businesses, and the community, we can find solutions that benefit everyone. Our real estate business goal is to provide valuable information to those interested in the area. We believe that a thriving community benefits everyone, including residents and businesses. We're committed to highlighting the positive aspects of our community while acknowledging its challenges and only creating videos that we truly care about. Thank you for your feedback.

[@BrianPaster]

It would be a shame to open it up to vehicles.

[@livinginventuracounty1071]

We agree.

[@BrianPaster]

It would be a shame to allow vehicles through the pedestrian zone. Also stupid for business. The restaurants can serve more people. Its great during summer. This has been a boom for Ventura .