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| Photo by Pixabay |
We are all still experiencing fear from being exposed to the COVID-19
virus when we venture out of our homes to pick up groceries. While many are wearing face coverings and
stores require face coverings to enter their stores, there are still those who
risk their health and the health of others by refusing to don a mask. We are in unprecedented times and just because
the holiday weekend is here, does not negate the need to honor safe distancing
and wear face masks. Although these
small sacrifices are required to help slow down the curve and save lives, I do
miss the days when we paid a visit to our local Japanese restaurant for sushi,
or decide if that night’s dinner out would be Mexican, Italian or Thai.
Restaurants
and businesses are awaiting readiness criteria from their local jurisdictions
on how to re-open with COVID-19 compliant safety practices: seating capacities,
face coverings, social distancing, and sanitation. The Food Industry employs 1.4 million food
service workers who have been directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many restaurants are scrambling to re-tool
their dining rooms and update their best practices to be prepared for the
official authorization to open from the Governor. Restaurants that reopen at
only 40-50% dining capacity will struggle to remain profitable at best because
each and every seat counts.
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| Photo by zoe pappas from Pexels |
Now,
more than ever, cities will need to think outside the box and embrace new or perhaps
proven strategies that will successfully allow struggling restaurants to hire
back their staff and re-open their doors for business. Many cities in the Bay Area such as Menlo Park, Palo Alto,
Mountain View, Los Altos, Redwood City, San Carlos, and San Mateo, are open to new ideas on
how to safely spur the recovery of businesses in their downtown areas.1 Some cities are embracing the idea of closing
streets so that restaurants can expand their open-air seating. This suggestion to expand the dining
experience to the street would allow for a greater capacity and still have
enough room to honor safe distancing.
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| Courtesy of Pexels |
The city of San Jose is considering “Al Fresco San Jose Program” and the San
Mateo city council has asked staff to come up with specifics on how to close
two streets for restaurants and businesses. In San Francisco, the restaurant
lobbying group “Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) has petitioned
legislators to adopt a proposal, allowing restaurants to take over spaces
around their businesses, including parking spaces and adjacent alleyways but
are concerned with the lengthy bureaucracy slowing down any results. A prime consideration will be access for fire
and emergency vehicles. In Berkeley, Vice Mayor Sophie Hahn introduced the
Berkeley Plan that would completely close dedicated streets during restaurant
operation hours, allowing residents to return to local restaurants and still be
safe.
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| Courtesy of pxfuel |
This concept is not new in Europe as the many open-air plazas have
operated this way for decades. In
America, we may have balconies, decks and patios to dine on at restaurants and
bars, but expanding to the streets will require examining all the necessary requirements
to be in place, ensuring the safety of employees as well as the patrons and
emergency access.
Pasadena is also considering this idea by closing a few streets
and alleys in Old Town to allow for an open-air dining experience. Old Town Pasadena is a pedestrian friendly
shopping and dining destination with abundant parking in nearby lots. If this solution is successful, it might very
well be the new business plan that remains long after the COVID-19 crisis is over.
Hopefully when the city planners and business owners develop this
new concept, they will remember to include bike racks for those who like to
ride to dinner instead of driving. All
cities need to be approached about installing new and or increasing the number
of existing bike racks to shopping and dining establishments. Any business that has bulky goods for sale
will have to ensure that there is a workable plan for pick-up and delivery from
the rear of their business establishment.
Restaurants contribute to the local economy and reopening in a new and
creative way can be a win win for the tax base and employees going back to
work. In another beach community, the
city of Long Beach installed parklets adjacent to restaurants and businesses
downtown. For each parking stall that is
converted to bike parking, 10 bikes can fit into this available space which
increases the number of patrons who can easily ride, shop, and dine.
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| Photo by Lee Coursey |
Over fifty years ago, one such community had the vision to
transform their downtown area to keep their commercial core viable. That vision was born in Boulder, Colorado. Historic Downtown Boulder is just a short 30 miles
from Denver and its surrounded by the Flatiron Mountains and nearby Boulder
Creek. In 1970, the then Governor, John
A. Love signed the “Public Mall Act, officially paving the way for Boulder and
other Colorado cities to close streets for the construction of pedestrian
malls. At the center of Downtown Boulder
is the Pearl Street Mall, a four block long pedestrian mall that celebrated its
40th anniversary in 2017.
When visiting Boulder, a visit to the Pearl Street Mall is a must, with
over 1000 businesses which has something for everyone to enjoy. It has become a mecca that visitors plan
return to annually.
Downtown Boulder had the vision a half century ago to transform
their historic section of town for their residents and is a destination for many
travelers worldwide. Not all cities have
a well-defined downtown area in which to convert into open air plazas for
dining, but time will tell if our city leaders and planners can gain
inspiration from successful cities like Downtown Boulder and see what is
possible. Anything is possible when we
partner together and collectively
develop solutions that will successfully reopen businesses across the nation.
Leave your comments below.
Until next time, “See you on the Trail.”
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