Permanent On-street Dining and Plazas
 

As part of the City of Portland's response to COVID-19, restaurants and other establishments were allowed to apply for temporary on-street parking and road closures to provide more space for outdoor dining through the Healthy Businesses program.

I'm hoping that the city will consider making this program permanent and allow for business to bump out curbs for permanent seating between sidewalks and the streets. Additionally, a number of street closures like at NE 28th/Flanders and NE 28th/Ankeny have noticeably improved the placemaking of these areas.

What does everyone else think?

100% agreement. SE Clinton between 25th and 26th is another great example.

Totally agree...there are a few very positive silver-linings from the pandemic, and this is one I would love to stick around. I also like how some restaurants are utilizing the parking lots of neighboring businesses as even more outdoor seating during dinners since those neighboring businesses aren't even open at that time.

I was just thinking about this about Harvey Milk St over by Jakes. That area is so much better with that street for pedestrians and bikes only.

I have been reading that these temporary closures during the pandemic in many cities could be permanent because the public wants them to be. In NYC for instance, there is discussion of taking the best designs and ideas that have been implemented, codify their attributes, and make outdoor dining structures "permanent" if they meet the new design criteria. We have many examples as we edge toward a more pedestrian oriented city. SW Ankeny between 2nd & 3rd Avenues was an early example. I hope that the Pearl District agrees that NW 13th should be a pedestrian zone with limited car access. I hope that the new food cart pod at the North Park mini-park south of Burnside can be expanded on Ankeny to SW Broadway and on NW 8th on the east side of the little park. I think that the SW Harvey Milk closure should extend to 10th, which would include many restaurants and bars on those two more blocks.

I am a fan of the street closures. As you mentioned the section of Ankeny that has been closed off functions quite well and doesn't meaningfully impede mobility in the area.

I will never personally understand the appeal of the street seats. I don't enjoy choking down exhaust with cars zipping by right next to me while I'm trying to enjoy some conversation and food with friends. But people seem to like them and they ad a level of interest and vibrance to the street scene that parked cars do not. So I am all for them even though I will never personally use them.

If the program were to become permanent and allow for curb lines to be moved, it's possible seating and sidewalks/landscaping strip could be flipped.

If I understand you correctly, you would flip the sidewalk and street trees outward to fill the parking spots, resulting in a very wide paved area against the building for sidewalk tables, right? But in many cases, there are mature street trees that need to be removed OR be incorporated into the new expanded outdoor dining plazas. New street trees would be planted out along the new curb line.

Same here, I don't have any desire to sit and eat food at a table on the sidewalk as cars are driving by. If I am going to do outside dining, it is going to be in a back patio or on a plaza with pedestrians around, not cars. So having some streets restricted to bikes and pedestrians is a great incentive to get me to want to actually enjoy outside dining.

Regarding the safety questions, I've long wished that Portland would create a program for full and half block road closures to create mini plazas for outdoor dining. There are some block faces without curb cuts where this is easier to do. Even with block faces with limited private parking lots, there could be private auto access preserved while still accomplishing many of the benefits of a safe, bollard protected outdoor dining areas/plazas. I suppose the parklets could still work, but more safely, with bollards between the dining space and driving/parking areas.

[note: discussion moved from the Proper Hotel thread]

One of the few good things to come out of the past couple years is seeing how much better we can activate our streets. NW 13th is a more vibrant street than it used to be, and it will only get better with this building. The 13th & Johnson building will help too. The largest vacant space I'm aware of is the former Tilt space... I'd love to see that filled by another restaurant.

Also, I keep hoping someone will take over the former Bridgeport Brewery. It seems like it would be an ideal turnkey space another brewery to move into.

Oh man, I totally forgot about this business going under.

Yeah, the former Tilt and Bridgeport are the biggest empty spaces. I forget that there are a lot of restaurants with limited hours. I think if they could open and make a profit on lunch/happy hour it would enliven the street at all hours. Irving Street Tapas, Mediterranean Exploration Co. and Andina all take up big corner spaces that open at 5 or later so it leaves parts of 13th pretty empty during work hours. Perhaps a few more coffee spaces too that bring in people sitting outside sipping their morning joe would be nice too. Barista is good for this but it gets really busy with a super long wait!

I love the street though! It's unique and has great energy. Sitting outside at Von Ebert or The Star with friends after work last summer before the Delta surge was amazing. I could see the city coming back to life.

Regarding Bridgeport Brewery (a very sad loss considering that it was probably the very first Oregon brewpub after Dick & Nancy Ponzi fought to change the OLCC laws to allow such operations) isn't ZGF designing the renovation (and repurposing) plans for the historic building complex?

Regarding NW 13th Avenue as active pedestrian space, does the City ever plan to return the street to auto use? Would the Pearl District neighborhood association ever allow that to happen? What do folks know about this? Wouldn't it be great to redesign and fully pedestrianize NW 13th?

Can we start a thread just to talk about all the amazing things we could do with NW 13th?

Feel free to post here. I move this discussion from the Proper Portland thread into this thread.

The grant proposal is interesting because it include improvements to the Pride Plaza on Harvey Milk as well.

...continues at the DJC ($).

Loooong overdue. Hope they get the ball rolling on this plaza soon, downtown needs it more than ever right now.

PBOT Street Plaza Program presentation to the Urban Design Panel.