Berkeley is moving fast to fully close many streets, repurposing them as seating areas for the California city’s vibrant restaurant scene (Via EaterSF)
In San Francisco, restaurant lobbying group the Golden Gate Restaurant Association has also petitioned legislators to allowing restaurants to take over open spaces around their businesses, including parking spaces and adjacent alleyways “commercial corridors,” but so far, city officials have not proposed any legislation — and some restaurateurs tell Eater SF they’re concerned that San Francisco’s labyrinthine bureaucracy means that results might come slowly, if at all.
Unlike some proposals, which mention restaurant use of parklets, sidewalks, or parking spaces, the Berkeley plan — which Arreguín and Vice Mayor Sophie Hahn introduced today — would completely close city streets during restaurant operation hours, Arreguín says, allowing residents to again “go out, be safe, and still enjoy our local restaurants.
Arreguín says that so far, reactions to the plan have been positive, and that the only impediments he sees are concerns about relaxing local regulations too quickly. “We’re taking a thoughtful, data-driven approach to reopening,” Arreguín says, noting that so far, the city only has 67 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and no deaths from the virus in the past month.
If all goes as planned, Arreguín says, Berkeley’s streets could be Vilnius-style cafes by this summer. And who knows, he says, the program might continue even when the pandemic ends. “We’ve done this before,” Arreguín says, citing the city’s Sunday Streets program and other open-air festivals. “It’s not a new concept.
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