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Downtown Ventura to stay car-free: What to know

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Published  September 20, 2025 1:44pm PDT
Ventura
FOX 11
article

Main Street in downtown Ventura is closed to vehicle traffic so restaurants can set up outdoor dining areas. Photographed in Ventura on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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The Brief

    • The Ventura City Council has voted to keep five blocks of Main Street and one block of California Street permanently closed to cars.
    • This decision makes the downtown Ventura area a permanent pedestrian zone, continuing a closure that began in 2020.
    • A group of property owners, who have already lost one lawsuit against the city, are still fighting the decision.

VENTURA, Calif. - Main Street in downtown Ventura will remain car-free. 

What we know:

This comes after the Ventura City Council voted on Sept. 16 to keep five blocks of Main Street and one block of California Street closed to vehicles, the Ventura County Star reports. 

Additionally, the city will require restaurants to meet new standards for their patios on the street, which will require most restaurants to replace or renovate the "parklets."

Rachel Dimond, the city's community development director, told the council maintaining the street closure will cost nearly $6 million over the next two years and another $23.5 million by 2035, according to the publication.

The other side:

Not everyone is in favor of keeping Main Street car-free. 

A group of downtown property owners sued the city last year to try to force it to reopen to street vehicles, arguing that the closure has hurt businesses and landlords, according to the VC Star. The city won that lawsuit but property owners appealed and filed an additional lawsuit, which is pending.

Local perspective:

Ventura is one of just a few cities in the Golden State where street closures put into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 remain in effect. Laguna Beach has permanently closed one block of its main downtown street and Santa Barbara's stretch of State Street has been closed to cars since that time.

What's next:

The Star reports the city will make more changes downtown to make the street closure permanent.

The council is also considering making downtown an "entertainment zone," where people would be allowed to bring open containers of alcohol from licensed bars and restaurants outside in designated areas. 

Santa Monica debuted its entertainment zone in May. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 

The Source: This report is based on a vote by the Ventura City Council and additional reporting from the Ventura County Star. 

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