Most of our sidewalks are simple passageways from point A to point B. Walking along them is just another way of moving through space, like driving or cycling. Just serving this basic function leads them to greatly underperform as the important public places that they are. In most situations they are no more than narrow corridors, having given up much of their width to add capacity for cars. This has greatly reduced their ability to be forums for social and commercial activity.
What's more, any "friction" to car movement on sidewalks such as people stopping to talk or shop is not considered a benefit in the street network system because it impedes cars movement. In our current car culture, sidewalks are not considered key platforms for social life and economic prosperity, even though those have historically been their main functions in a city.
The way to truly create vibrant and multi-functional sidewalks is through double loading, bringing the inside out, and adding outdoor dining areas. These activations transform sidewalks from mere transportation corridors into a series of "rooms" where things happen, people gather, and everyone wants to be, rather than just pass through.
Sheds as Community Institutions
Designing sidewalks to support social and economic life through these kinds of activations represents a fantastic example of how Placemaking can transform entire neighborhoods and cities. For example, great dining sheds are those that successfully integrate into their neighborhood setting. They reflect the community, interact with adjacent businesses and public places, and represent a way for neighborhoods to evolve and shine by defining themselves from the inside out. They are an essential component of interesting, enjoyable, and thriving urban life.
Here are 14 reasons why dining sheds are so important:
1) They Create Social Hubs/Gathering Places
NYC's dining sheds create social hubs that draw people of all kinds together. They are a quintessential example of creating shared community spaces. When everything in a city happens behind closed doors, the public doesn't see it and the city doesn't come alive with activity that draws people in. Street dining creates hubs of social vibrancy that brings vitality to urban life.
2) They Strengthen the Local Economy
Dining sheds can build a strong local economy by helping businesses attract foot traffic and customers. Local businesses thrive when their offerings are in the public realm so people passing by can see them and interact with them. Owners can also better connect with their patrons when they go outside their establishments, thus creating friendships with residents and turning businesses into beloved community establishments.
3) They Make the Streets More Beautiful
Outdoor dining constructions are often beautiful and enhance the experience of being out in the city. Business owners put great effort into making their street dining attractive and interesting so as to draw in customers, therefore it often becomes a wonderful addition to the streetscape.
4) They Make Neighborhoods Unique
Placemaking is a means to respect and reflect the uniqueness of communities, making a city more and more characterized by distinct and special neighborhoods. Dining sheds are a great example of this. The best ones are perfectly integrated into their surroundings and reflect their owners and residents. They allow neighborhoods to define themselves from the inside out.
5) They Create Year-round Street Activation
Having dining sheds available all year means the public realm is welcoming and interesting all year. People don't stop wanting connection and fun when temperatures drop, so it doesn't make sense to get rid of dining sheds then. Dining sheds must exist year around. Winter is a wonderful time to celebrate the season and gather with friends and neighbors.
Many outdoor seating areas in cold countries like those in the north of Europe also flourish during colder months. Outdoor dining areas keep cities "open" for exploration, creating year-round destinations for residents to enjoy. The simple practice of having blankets available for outdoor seating areas is done all over Europe.
6) They Ensure Accessibility for Everyone
Sheds provide handicapped access to restaurants that have steps or are so crowded that wheelchairs and carriages are difficult or impossible to accommodate. Together with Kathy – my wife who was in a wheelchair until she passed away last fall – we could not eat at most of the restaurants we loved because of this. Outdoor dining areas made it possible for us to enjoy our favorite places again.
Le Petit Cafe on Court Street in Carroll Gardens
For example, after Kathy became wheelchair-bound, we could no longer visit our favorite restaurant on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn, Chez Moi. This special restaurant was impossible for us to get into and out of easily, but the dining shed gave us year-round access, allowing us to once more enjoy a great meal while also watching the sidewalk "ballet" go by.
Chez Moi on Atlantic Avenue
In terms of accessibility, outdoor dining sheds also provide comfortable places for families with baby carriages to eat and gather. Without these sheds, many smaller, inaccessible, or crowded restaurants would not be available to families with babies or small children.
What's more, the shed offers more informal use of restaurants. Instead of everyone, including little kids, having to sit down for the whole time and be restricted in their behavior, a dining shed makes it possible to have a more casual meal. It also makes it possible for pairs or groups of families to get together easily.
7) They Play a Big Role in Revitalizing Neighborhoods
Through what we call "reciprocal gestures," individual interventions like a dining shed can have ripple effects down a whole block. When one dining shed attracts patronage and foot traffic, other restaurants in the vicinity see that and replicate it so as to reap similar benefits. This leads to a broader revitalized area that can spread through a neighborhood and even a city. This is the power of individual catalytic impacts.
8) They Incrementally Create Main Streets
Dining sheds and other outdoor settings allow communities to get a sense and vision for what their community wants and needs. By putting normally "indoor" features like chairs, food offerings, play areas, etc. in the public realm, it is easy to see what people like by observing how they interact with sidewalk life. It provides a way to rethink and incrementally rebuild neighborhood "main streets" in a way that is authentic and resonates with residents.
9) They Show Respect to Pedestrians
With the vast majority of NYC residents not owning a car (over 70%), uses aimed at pedestrians respect the value they add to the city without driving. To give most of the street area to cars is to communicate that cars and drivers are more important than non-drivers.
What's more, designing for walkability creates an environment where people are not obligated or pressured to own car because everything they need is within walking distance or accessible by transit. Bikes are also a safer, healthier, and more affordable way of traveling, especially to nearby destinations.
10) They Open Up Views
Having cars parked along streets, especially the newer, higher SUVs, blocks people's view of what is happening on the sidewalks, drawing in fewer people to participate in sidewalk life. This negatively impacts businesses as well as the experience of being out and about.
11) They Bring Vibrancy to Neighborhoods
Dining sheds and outdoor offerings make it so people don't have to leave their community to find desirable places to gather, connect, and explore. Instead, these places add value to residents' neighborhoods by reintroducing vitality and fun.
12) They Improve Safety – Cars Drive More Carefully and Sheds Create Safe Areas for Roaming
Vehicles drive faster and streets are less safe when they are just "faceless" tunnels with nothing going on at their edges and when there is no social or commercial activity to create "visual friction" for drivers. These generic tunnels don't lead to any understanding of or interest about the neighborhoods the street cuts through, making it so drivers don't feel bad about speeding through them. The opposite happens when you activate the street edges with businesses and social life. Drivers realize they are sharing the space with others and drive more carefully.
The dining sheds also make sidewalks safer. Kids can roam free on sidewalks at an earlier age when cars slow down and "double loading" creates a kind of barrier of amenities between the pedestrian walkway and the street. Also, when this happens and people are seated outside, neighbors become part of the "protective layer" that keeps an eye on roaming kids, enhancing their safety. Double-loaded sidewalks create a protected zone on heavily trafficked, hostile streets, where people can feel more comfortable and safe because they are not walking right alongside speeding cars.
13) They Become Community Institutions
In most neighborhoods, sheds have become community institutions as residents flock to them on a regular basis, creating a heart of community life. For example, at the soda fountain Farmacy in our Brooklyn neighborhood, there is no requirement to purchase something in order to hang out there. Thus, large numbers of local residents have made it their daily gathering place. Their activity at the corner then draws interest and clientele to one of Brooklyn treasures because nothing attracts people like other people.
14) They Improve Mental Heath
Dining sheds are key to reducing isolation and loneliness in our neighborhoods because they activate the public realm with social activity and opportunities to connect with neighbors. They also reduce anxiety because when a street is dominated by the sounds, smells, and risks of traffic it causes significant levels of stress. Dining sheds create safe zones on sidewalks where people of all ages can feel safe, relaxed, and connected as they engage with social and commercial life.
We Need Dining Sheds
NYC and cities like it need dining sheds on streets. They provide a unique good to urban life that cannot be replaced, even by sidewalk dining. The fact that the dining sheds are on the street means they take back space from cars and give it to people and communities. The fact that they are between the sidewalk and traffic means that they create a barrier between pedestrians and vehicles which makes the public realm a safer and more comfortable place to be. And the fact that they are "sheds," i.e. sturdy physical structures, protects the people in them from elements like sun and rain, making the prospect of being outside more appealing. It makes the dining destinations in and of themselves, creating a public realm that is more vibrant and interesting to be in.
Dining sheds are a hallmark of thriving cities around the world. The era of car-centrism is ending and dining sheds are an important step toward a future where public life is more of a priority than traffic throughput. Taking out the dining sheds was a huge hit to the vibrancy of NYC life and they should be brought back.
Fred Kent
Who We Are
We are part of a growing group of community activists who have spent over 50 years building a Placemaking Movement globally that is now in over 30 countries around the world.
We love to observe and understand how cities and communities around the world work and what makes them thrive. We have spent the last 50+ years exploring places in every kind of setting on every continent and helping communities create better public places.
We have a small foundation, The Placemaking Fund, that we started 5 years ago to share our work. Project for Public Spaces, Social Life Project, and PlacemakingX are the three organizations we started. They are at the forefront of the Global Placemaking Movement.
"The radical energy of placemaking is that the authority to catalyze change comes not from credentials, but rather from proximity, lived experience, and a deep commitment to place. Placemaking knows no party, but most importantly, placemaking comes from a place of love—a combination of affection and respect that we believe precedes other aspects of expertise or power." – Tracy Hadden Loh and Hanna Love, Brookings Metro's Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking
Fred Kent
If you are interested in collaborating (articles, presentations, exhibits, projects, and more) or supporting the cause contact us.
