Winchester, MA "Parklet" At the start of the pandemic, the creation of the Paseo in Old Towne Orange was absolutely the right move by the Orange City Council to assist the hard-hit restaurant industry. Outdoor dining was their lifeline.
Now that indoor dining restrictions have eased, it's time to return the Old Towne Orange Plaza back to its former configuration. Glassell St needs to be re-opened as the major thoroughfare it was intended to be. Residents in surrounding historic neighborhoods never signed up for all of the increased bus, truck, and vehicle traffic through their once quiet neighborhoods. The desire of a few folks to eat outside on occasion shouldn't trump the rights of the homeowners and renters living in the adjacent neighborhoods. There are currently outdoor dining standards in place, which could be modified to accommodate additional outdoor dining on the sidewalks, or even to some degree in the parking spots outside of the restaurants, which has been done throughout the country (while keeping the streets open). I was recently in Boston on a couple of separate occasions, and in Boston's historic North End, they have a very vibrant restaurant community -- with a lot more vehicle traffic than we get in Old Towne -- and their streets are wide open. Likewise, in the historic city of Winchester, MA they had the same configuration. And let's not even consider making it year 'round -- we need the parking in Old Towne, and few people want to drink or dine outside when it's too hot or too cold.
Here are all of the restaurants (nothing official -- just off of the top of my head) that had outdoor dining available prior to the pandemic:
Now that indoor dining restrictions have eased, it's time to return the Old Towne Orange Plaza back to its former configuration. Glassell St needs to be re-opened as the major thoroughfare it was intended to be. Residents in surrounding historic neighborhoods never signed up for all of the increased bus, truck, and vehicle traffic through their once quiet neighborhoods. The desire of a few folks to eat outside on occasion shouldn't trump the rights of the homeowners and renters living in the adjacent neighborhoods. There are currently outdoor dining standards in place, which could be modified to accommodate additional outdoor dining on the sidewalks, or even to some degree in the parking spots outside of the restaurants, which has been done throughout the country (while keeping the streets open). I was recently in Boston on a couple of separate occasions, and in Boston's historic North End, they have a very vibrant restaurant community -- with a lot more vehicle traffic than we get in Old Towne -- and their streets are wide open. Likewise, in the historic city of Winchester, MA they had the same configuration. And let's not even consider making it year 'round -- we need the parking in Old Towne, and few people want to drink or dine outside when it's too hot or too cold.
Here are all of the restaurants (nothing official -- just off of the top of my head) that had outdoor dining available prior to the pandemic:
| - Wahoo's - Buttermilk Fried Chicken Place (name?) - BossCat - Zito's Pizza - Jax - Filling Station - Bruxie - The Pie Hole - Rutabegorz - Pandor - Renata's - Avila's - Taco Adobe - BossCat - Finney's Crafthouse and Kitchen - Chipotle - BlkDot Coffee - Bluestone Lane - At least 5-6 more of which I'm aware due to conversations with the developers | - Kimmies - Haven - Cafe Zocalo (Blue Frog Location) - Francolis - Gabbi's - Blaze - Urth Cafe - Bagel Me - Two's Company (Name?) - Felix's - Watsons - The Wall - Pizza Press - Citrus City Grille - 1886 - Byblos - The District - Snooze |
So for me, the argument of lack of outdoor dining doesn't fly. Likewise, the position that it's somehow "safer" to have Glassell closed off also doesn't make any sense. All of the outdoor dining noted above is either on private patios owned by the restaurants (or their landlords) or is on the sidewalks -- and to my knowledge, the City of Orange hasn't had issues with cars driving up on the sidewalks (or private patios) and injuring diners. I don't believe that the public's occasional right to dine/walk in the middle of the street trumps the surrounding residents' rights to the quiet enjoyment of their homes (whether owned or rented). And the public (aka the taxpayer) owns the street and the parking spaces -- giving them away to private businesses for the generation of profit to private businesses doesn't make sense for either the taxpayers or the businesses who don't benefit from the closure of Glassell -- whether in the Plaza District or elsewhere throughout the City of Orange.
View of North Glassell on December 23, 2021 at about 2PM. I parked at the parking structure and walked in the rain to The Plaza to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. While the rain was definitely a factor, this is not the definition of a vibrant downtown -- especially two days before Christmas. I'm relieved that Glassell is going to be opened back up within the next couple of weeks!
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