One silver lining of the pandemic was that the city opened up some public space so we had more options for hanging out. While I’m not a fan of fine dining with a backed up lane of traffic idling a few feet away this was one patio I really enjoyed—for the last 3 years it was in an otherwise quiet and underused alley with plenty of room for service vehicles to still get by.
But …apparently because some patios in laneways got in the way they’ve just decided to cancel all of them this year? And I think they’re also charging way more in general? Sucks, this was exactly the kind of thing we need more of, not less. We’re already so isolated.
I agree. Especially when you compare it to cities like Montreal where they’ve been running a similar program with 0 issues (if not outright just making the street pedestrian only). It just makes the city feel more alive.
What’s going on with the patio program this year? A nearby coffee shop/bakery is trying to re-open a patio that’s been used in the past by previous tenants at their location but which hasn’t been used in the past few years and, despite putting in their application months ago, they still haven’t heard a response one way or another. The sidewalk is wide, the space is marked out with pre-amalgamation Metropolitan Toronto cement bollards, yet it takes the city more than 2 months to even consider their application?
I think part of it is the city is pretty much going broke at this point, has no mayor, and the premier has a grudge against it. So unfortunately it makes some sense the patio stuff is understaffed and haphazard. Sad though, it has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal situation.