Commercial interests have pushed pedestrianization in the city's core shopping areas — because it improves their bottom lines. That can be good for residents but it has downsides, too.
In Manhattan, the supposed epicenter of opposition, a city survey shows that 84 percent of residents support the "Covid huts." Citywide, 64 percent support them.
For years local transportation reform activists have pushed City of Portland to go beyond car storage and driving and think more creatively about what we can do with our streets. And when calls for new uses of street space were made, it was often restaurant owners who lined up to say their business would perish […]