I know my favourite thing is to eat a meal while traffic rushes past me, the exhaust adds a certain smokiness to the meal.

I like the increased proliferation of patios in bars and restaurants. It makes the streetscape much more social and lively. Much more interesting. However, of course there’s a downside. There’s always a downside. First, attention must be given to how to deal with pedestrians, especially in terms of accessibility for all, if the patios are taking up what is formerly the sidewalk area. Second, nobody wants to be seated next to tons of fast, loud and smelly traffic.

The solution many areas are adopting? Widen the sidewalk and narrow the traffic lanes, remove parking on the street, or remove the private vehicle traffic entirely in certain areas.

Once again, everything has a downside. If you remove private vehicle traffic and/or parking, then folks reliant on their vehicles (due to all manner of reasons from city design to distance to lack of other options for transportation) cannot get there to enjoy the patios, or, if they do, they can’t find a place to park. Of course, there’s plenty of potential and active solutions for this too, but we’re not there yet. And yet, oddly enough, the ‘if you build it, they will come’ effect seems to be true in places where these various strategies have been attempted.

I really believe that extended patios are a great way to test the waters for more pedestrian-friendly communities. If they turn out to be successful, perhaps they could be made permanent. However, I do understand the need to put them away when they are not in use and allow for more parking and road use in the winter. That would be an efficient use of space. I have to say, I have never seen an extended patio that didn’t improve the space it’s in. It just makes everything feel more inviting and comfortable.