Shiro restaurant on Mission Street in South Pasadena (Photo – ColoradoBoulevard.net)
It started amid the pandemic, with walkers, joggers, and skateboarders taking to the streets to maintain social distance in the face of crowded sidewalks.
By William J. Kelly
Next, stores rolled out sidewalk merchandise displays. Then some restaurants set up temporary parklets for al fresco dining and sipping coffee where cars once parked along street curbs.
They were grass roots acts, often in desperation, carried out in response to the COVID-19. They followed the spirit of “just do it” urban planning articulated in Tactical Urbanism by planners Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia in 2015.
The two authors explain that tactical urbanism involves residents and businesses simply changing the way urban spaces are used by employing temporary materials and strategies, often without city approval. The theory goes that once people see how parklets, popups, open streets, and temporary bike lanes can improve life, cities will often follow suit and make such features permanent.
It’s certainly worked during the pandemic.
In response to grassroots actions, Pasadena and Los Angeles launched their Slow Streets programs, allowing cars, pedestrians, and bikers to share the same space. Next, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, and other cities passed ordinances to allow restaurants and coffee shops to set up parklets. They started off simply as tables and chairs behind cement K-Rail barriers, but have since been embellished with potted plants, canopies, heating lamps, and lighting.
But what will happen when the pandemic ends? Will today’s slow streets and curbside dining areas inspire cities to permanently change the way urban spaces are used, carving out more room for people while putting cars on a road diet?
The answer is unknown, but what is clear is that the pandemic is changing attitudes about lifestyle. A Cushman Wakefield report on the outlook for office space late last month foresees a doubling of the number of people who work from home post-pandemic versus pre-pandemic. This will mean fewer commuters and less auto use, at least until 2025, the commercial real estate company says. By then economic and population growth will finally fill up empty office spaces.
The implication is that there will be room for slow streets and al fresco dining parklets after the pandemic ends. Indeed, by then residents and businesses may tend to see these new uses of urban space as normal and desirable. If so, city governments seem likely to make permanent what started out as temporary moves of desperation by residents and businesses trying to provide social distance during the pandemic.
A model of a Parklet on Colorado Boulevard during PARK(ing) Day, 2014. Ultimately the project was killed due to the objection of few regressive business owners in the Playhouse District (File Photo – Jonathan Edewards).
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