Takin' It to the Streets is perhaps the only Doobie Brothers song with Michael McDonald that is worth hearing. That is the message cities are looking into this summer to give outdoor seating for restaurants thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Restaurants have struggled with being not open; open but only doing takeout and delivery; open recently but at a capacity around 25%. Being able to have tables outdoors allows for social distancing and to give more capacity to restaurants.
Closed streets allows for more space for people to walk and keep 6 feet from each other.
Vilnius, Lithuania is using its plazas, squares and streets to expand outdoor seating in the Old Town of the city. One of the hardest hit cities in Italy, Milan is incorporating outdoor seating.
U.S. cities that have brought out outdoor seating for restaurants include Berkeley (CA), Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Tampa, Las Vegas, San Jose (Al Fresco San Jose), Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. New Hampshire is only allowing outdoor dining.
Cities could use wide-open spaces such as parking lots for giant outdoor stadiums that are not currently in use for a gathering of food trucks with seating for social distancing.
Closed streets can also help farmers markets get more space for vendors and social distancing. Farmers markets are considered essential yet some cities such as Chicago are struggling with how to make them safer.
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We talk about the lack of normal during this pandemic. Restaurant seating al fresco in streets, parking lots, and even piazzas and squares won't seem normal compared to 2019. They might be the new normal for a long time. The summer of 2021 may look more like the summer of 2020 than the summer of 2019.
Restaurant owners are worried that even if they reopen to customers whether customers want to return. They may not be willing to go inside even with reduced capacity but more willing to add al fresco to their word salad this summer.
Car traffic is reduced due to the pandemic. As someone living in a large city without a car, I see a lot of cars on the road going somewhere. Car drivers would be inconvenienced by road closures, though those road closures could be limited to afternoons for farmers markets and evenings for restaurants.
Car drivers don't like making sacrifices; the value of restaurants and food trucks having more space outweighs needs of car drivers.
Open-air restaurants would help return some normalcy and produce jobs in a struggling economy. We could use some of that normalcy in the warmer weather.
photo credit: MSNBC
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