Now that spring is here, outdoor restaurant dining is resuming and expanding. Unfortunately, if the outdoor dining requires stepping off a curb than it’s not accessible to diners in wheelchairs or with mobility restrictions.
City Councilor Brenda Noel sent this email today:
Your Ward 6 Councilors, Brenda Noel, Alicia Bowman and Vicki Danberg are working together to build platforms for the local restaurants to increase accessibility. We completed Bill’s Pizza this morning and are planning on tackling 2 more restaurants this coming weekend, and more to follow. Thanks to the construction leadership of Ben Tucker from Chapman Construction and Patrick Powdermaker of Strong Heart Construction as well as several volunteers we made quick work of it this morning! National Lumber is giving us the materials at a discount but we still need help covering the cost of the wood. Please consider donating to cover the material costs. Handy with power tools? Send me a direct message as we are looking for a few volunteers for next weekend. Thanks in advance!
A GoFundMe has been started to pay for the cost of materials for the platforms. Please consider donating your money and/or time for this project which will help our restaurants and community members.
Meredith- thanks so much for posting! It was a full team effort. If you are able to donate time and know your way around a power drill please email me- [email protected]. If you are able to donate treasure please do- the need is great. Thank you!
Thank you Councilor Noel and everyone who lent a hand in doing this. It’s so important to our local restaurants. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take part today (and I’m not around next weekend) but I hope to help out soon.
What an excellent idea! Thank you to everyone who made this possible, particularly for those who have mobility challenges!
I had so much fun this morning watching all the construction. My husband was one of the volunteers and he had a blast. It was so nice to connect with all the folks walking through Newton Centre this morning. Also it was very informative to chat with Dino, the owner of Bills and his staff, hearing first hand how hard COVID has been. He was very happy with the outcome. It was also nice to see the flowers doing so well that my family planted here a few weeks back.
I walked passed Bill’s this evening and the wood decking looked great and I told them so. But I am curious. I noticed that at the juice bar on Union Street they actually just placed a ramp from the sidewalk to the street dining. Given the outrageously inflated cost of lumber right now, wouldn’t that be a more cost effective solution for accessibility?
@Claire. A ramp in another way to go. But it significantly limits how many tables will fit in the space especially when you factor maneuvering around tables.
Claire- great point- Some restaurants have lots of outdoor street space (Like Barmore) and the ramp makes sense. Others have such a small outdoor footprint that the ramp takes up too much space and the restaurants lose too many tables with the ramp. The platform project will be focusing on those restaurants with a smaller outdoor footprint.
Thank you so much, Ward 6 Councilors and all the volunteers. Just contributed to the materials fund (link in the original post) and hope you do, too!
It’s great that the outdoor dining experience is being made accessible to the widest possible range of people. Thanks!
When Boston started trialing parklets years ago, there was some interest in enlisting some of the local trade and union training schools to help on the projects. With the right contacts and appropriate certificates, this community project might be an even bigger win.
Brenda, holy sh*t, a certain someone commenting here just blew up your GoFundMe (in a good way!). I think they merit some special bling.
At the risk of embarrassing our home town hero Mike Halle I just want to say he just made the mother of all donations and I could not be more humbled and in awe. I have always felt that if you give folks a vehicle to help (whether that be time or treasure) they will often take you up on it- but this is really something- Thank you Mike! We are now well over half-way to goal and appreciate any and all support!
I appreciate the shout out, but only because it brings attention to the cause. I know others will step up to help in their own way. Real thanks, and I mean it, goes to the people with the initiative and the hammers. As the Councilor said, people of good will will act when called upon. I firmly believe we should call more. Thank you for those who give.
There has always been unanswered need in this world, but every one of us knows that today’s challenges are monumentally different.
This is not the time to think small or act timidly. People, our neighbors, often invisible, are in need. We are a community of people with big hearts, blessed with many gifts but perhaps facing trials, fears, and anxieties of our own.
We are our city. This is our time. Let’s make a big difference, not a small one. Dream big dreams, not small ones. Together, not alone. In this time of beaten down, it is time for lifting up. Give of yourself, but ask when you need.
Let’s make the future proud of us.
Go, Michael!
Let’s make this a permanent use of space.
I think this summer is the opportunity to prove that parklets and outdoor dining, at least seasonally, can improve business more robustly than a couple of extra parking spots.
At the same time, dining pickup and delivery will likely remain strong, which means that parking needs may become more transient. Some villages might even be compact enough to try bike delivery.
A timely article from Bloomberg CityLab shows that outdoor dining and “slow streets” boosted businesses in several major locations:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-11/the-business-case-for-car-free-streets
Note they’ve helpfully translated “North End” to “Boston’s Little Italy” for the non-towny reader.
Well done, Brenda Noel.
Take a walk with me. I have been vaccinated to the max.
I was passing by The Local in West Newton square and noticed the Jersey barriers in front of the outdoor dining area, and was hoping they would make that area accessible in the same way. Hello, Ward 3 Councilors?
3 more platforms built this past weekend- Cook in Newtonville, Grape Leaf in the Highlands and Four Spoons in Newton Centre- thanks so much to our 19 volunteers, Ben Tucker of Chapman Construction and all of our donors that made this project possible. Bravo!