Welcome to the Parklet Period of San Francisco

“It was the single biggest factor in saving my business,” said Ben Bleiman, partner of Tonic Nightlife Group and nightlife advocate, of the parklets that popped up during the pandemic. Bleiman, who owns the Teeths in the Mission District and Soda Popinski in Nob Hill and is the president of the SF Bar Owner Alliance, is not alone. Numerous restaurant and bar owners, whose businesses were on the brink of ruin, confirm his opinion: “Without the option of having the parklets, we would not have survived financially,” says Laurie Thomas, owner of Rose’s Café and Terzo and managing director of Golden Gate Restaurant Association.

And now these parklets are permanent. After a final vote on July 13th, the mayor officially signed the law and signed the deal on Wednesday, July 28th. The newfangled Shared Spaces Parklets (or, in common parlance, Streeteries) that emerged from the pandemic are becoming a permanent fixture to help empower small businesses while reducing the overflow of cars and parking spaces in our city. What once proved nearly impossible in SF – allowing small businesses to use public sidewalks and parking spaces for customers – became a reality, though it took months for that decision to be made. Making parklets permanent became a contentious local debate, but now these outdoor spaces are here to stay, and they will change the San Francisco landscape forever.

Interesting facts about the history of parklets

Parklets are nothing new. Although they have become popular with SF restaurants over the past year, the advent of the Parklet restaurant wasn’t just during times of pandemic. They were widespread in Europe; Just ask your most contradicting friend with “Wanderlust” in his Instagram bio and you will get an ear. But it’s a different situation in California, and seeing parklets come into play shows how much cars have encroached upon our livelihoods – and our lives.

In the early days of the automobile, pedestrians and vehicles shared the street. (Evidence of this pairing is the short film A Ride Down Market Street Before the 1906 Fire, which detects streetcars, horse-drawn carriages, cars, cyclists, and pedestrians, all moving at a condensed but chaotic pace.) In the decades that followed, the needs of motorists overshadowed the lives of pedestrians and literally sidelined them.

But almost 100 years later, pedestrians began to push back in small but fine efforts. In 2003, Environs Landscape Architecture built the Piazza Basilone in San Diego, where passers-by could sit, chat and have lunch. Then, in 2005, three designers from Rebar, an art and design studio with activist leanings, turned a parking lot at First and Mission in San Francisco into a mini park with lawn, tree, and seating. This experiment resulted in Park (ing) Day, an annual holiday on the third Friday in September when people around the world take over parking spaces and open parks to the public.

How restaurant owners reinvented parklets

In the run-up to the pandemic, San Francisco had already started its own parklet program, although, according to Rebar’s idea, these looked more like small public parks. It wasn’t until the pandemic that triggered the Shared Spaces program that restaurants and bars really had the opportunity to redesign parklets as outdoor dining areas. Restaurants that range from the two-star Michelin Sparkler season in SoMa to the neighborhood favorite New Dumpling King in the Outer Sunset, and bars like the Gay Leather Dive The Powerhouse or the Haight Street Stapel das Alembic, built parklets that serve hungry guests could feed, serve tipsy regular customers and rejuvenate their sales-hungry businesses.

Since the program came into effect, more than 2,400 applications have been submitted and an estimated 1,900 approved. The permit fee of $ 1,000 to $ 3,000 per parklet was waived for two years. Best of all, segments of busy thoroughfares, such as Valencia Street and Grant and West Portal Avenues, are closed to most vehicle traffic and pedestrians are being let out of their cement prisons on the sidelines. Parklets popping up everywhere – in a city teeming with Byzantine permit procedures apparently out to stifle business efforts – was a source of cheer, and eventually a night on the town.

But that doesn’t mean the vote was without debate.

Why the ongoing debate about parklets is fueling

The final decision to make parklets permanent was delayed for many months. The Shared Spaces program launched in spring 2020 as a temporary measure; Mayor London Breed suggested making it permanent in early 2021; but in June it turned into a contentious debate with the board of directors, who held multiple hearings, accommodated hundreds of callers, and added many amendments, putting the vote beyond reopening SF and California completely.

As much as restaurants and bars need this assistance and parklets are so popular with guests, the main concerns were accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities. “The city is great at finding solutions without asking all stakeholders like seniors and people with disabilities what would be best for us all,” says Pi Ra, director of transit justice at Senior and Disability Action, who also identifies as disabled senior. “The original legislation should fail without paying much attention to accessibility or traffic problems.”

There were also structural issues that could have hampered guests and passers-by, and changes examined the details of how many parklets invaded the sidewalk and whether they were really accessible. “Not only does eating outside make me more fun, it also makes me feel safer than someone at high risk of dying from COVID,” said Aubrie Lee, a Bay Area resident with muscular dystrophy and one Electric wheelchair used. Lee points out that if parklets are not fully accessible, they will limit people. “Superstructures that block the sidewalk or otherwise require me to turn around and roll onto the street are at high risk of death. Other setups, like parklets that were built at the height of the sidewalk, are so much more accessible. “

It probably didn’t help that restaurants were being built in a rush. “Thirty-one years after the Americans with Disabilities Act came into effect, there is no reason any structure should have these problems, which may have been made worse because things happened so quickly,” notes Autumn Elliott, a disability rights attorney in California. But after all, the city made a commitment to get it right. To bring ADA rules in line, the final Shared Spaces Act now requires at least eight feet of free sidewalk space greater than three feet wide, with smaller walkways requiring six feet of access. Companies that do not have enough sidewalk space can apply for a parking lane or a street space.

By July the debate had boiled down to two remaining issues. First, which department should manage parklets: Before the final vote, city guides had to decide whether to go to San Francisco Planning, the notoriously sluggish agency that manages parklets, or San Francisco Public Works, the contested and involved agency that distributes sidewalks and groceries, Should appoint truck permits to administer the program. The overseers voted 7-4 for the lesser of two evils, the planning department.

The second question, whether restaurants and bars should block their parklets outside of opening hours, provoked further concerns – especially with regard to the privatization of public space. While Supervisor Hillary Ronen noted that the city is “giving up an enormous amount of public space” to help businesses, she told the San Francisco Chronicle, “I believe the public should have as much access to it as possible.” Supervisor Aaron Peskin spoke about it repeatedly Privatization of public space. Comparing parklets to beaches, he argued that citizens should be allowed to sit in a parklet and have a coffee at any time.

However, restaurant and bar owners shouted that they spent tens of thousands of dollars on parklets, while the lockdown caused them to amass hundreds of thousands of debts and to deal with less than decent conditions in their parklets at dawn. “I had to get rid of massive, really impressive amounts of diarrhea,” says Bleiman. In the case of a compromise, the supervisory authorities voted 6 to 5 in favor of companies being able to lock their common rooms between midnight and 7 a.m. the right to secure a parklet at night.

How parklets change San Francisco forever

Whatever problems these Shared Spaces face over the next few years – including concerns about further privatization of public space or stagnation in traffic, the latter of which could easily be addressed if San Francisco actually makes public transport a top priority – the existence of Parklets on streets are a welcome change from the vacancy signs that obscure most of the city that knows how.

Parklets have also added architectural flair to the urban landscape, with shared spaces available in a variety of designs and vibes. Mister Jius’ neon green U-shaped outdoor seating, which was arguably the most exciting parklet in town, although not currently in use, goes well with the Kodachrome colors of Waverly Alley. South Beach’s 21st Amendment features a mid-century modern vibe over a sloping roof to let rain and mayflies slide off its steep silhouette. And you’ll find rooms adorned with chandeliers, like the one at Rooh in South Beach, or with a tiered structure that accompanies the famous San Francisco hills, like the one outside Devil’s Acre in North Beach or Woods Cervecería opposite the Mission Dolores Park.

Given the city’s propensity for cold weather, many guests will prefer to sit inside – as opposed to an inch off the 38 Geary bus during an atmospheric river event. In view of the construction costs and the shortage of labor, parklets are not worthwhile for all restaurants. And many parklets, while built under strict structural safety guidelines, are thin compared to the constant requirements and may not be built to last. Still, some restaurant and bar owners believe parklets will stay with them through this recent surge in COVID cases and even into winter. “I don’t see any major problems,” says Bleiman. “Some [parklets] are exposed to the elements as they have no roofs and are therefore closed when it rains. And others don’t want to pay for heat lamps to make it too cold for them. All surmountable problems. ”

Mayor Breed signed the Shared Spaces legislation on July 28, making it official. Despite the famous soupy weather and steep hills of San Francisco, parklets are here to stay. The city is finally cultivating the outdoor dining scene it deserves, even if it looks a little different than expected and emerged from the ashes of a crisis.