Fwd: Tell council: make cafe streets permanent!
Gordon Padelford
On Tuesday the Seattle City Council will vote whether to keep cafe streets. Ask them to vote yes! This program has supported 300+ small businesses, transforming our streets into more vibrant and welcoming places.
One of the benefits the proposed legislation provides is easier access for people to operate food trucks in Seattle. Unfortunately Councilmember Alex Pedersen is proposing an amendment to prevent this.
If you think food trucks and street cafes add to the quality of our lives in Seattle, please act now and send City Council a message.
If you are passionate about this program, sign up to give public comment at the City Council meeting, on Tuesday, December 6th, at 9:30 AM. Simply calling to tell them why you support this program will make a difference!
Common Questions
Do people like these spaces? Yes! Polling finds that 84% of Seattle voters support this program.
Does the program really support small businesses? Yes! Data gathered from across the country confirms these streets are good for business!
Does the loss of parking revenue impact our city's tax revenue? Data collected from cities around North America finds that the increased sales tax revenue more than offsets the lost parking revenue.
Are food trucks bad for brick-and-mortar restaurants? No, having more options in an area tends to be a net benefit to all businesses.
Do these spaces enhance public safety? There is less data on this, but research on similar efforts finds that cultivating cared for community spaces does enhance community safety.
Do these spaces encourage walking? Generally speaking, creating streets with more activity and interesting things to look at does encourage people to walk more, and longer.
Do these spaces help us reimagine our streets? Absolutely! Historically, small businesses have been some of the most skeptical stakeholders when it comes to making changes to our streets (like removing parking to add wider sidewalks or bike lanes), so having them as allies in reimagining these spaces is a huge win as we build towards a transformational vision of streets as places for people.
But if the City Council doesn't act to extend this program, we will lose this. Please, write to them and support SDOT and Councilmember Strauss’ proposal to make this program permanent!
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is a people-powered nonprofit working to make every neighborhood a great place to walk, bike, and live. Supporting cafe streets has been a priority for us since the beginning of the pandemic.
Thank you for your advocacy,
Gordon Padelford
Executive Director
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
Website - Twitter - Facebook
P.S. It only takes a minute to send a message to the City Council about the cafe streets program, and it will make a big difference. Thank you!
