Since the pandemic Clark Street was made car-free, so restaurants can have outdoor dining, and pedestrians can walk freely. This program was immensely popular. Everyone loved it. The residents, the restaurants, the visitors.
Why did Chicago decide to stop the program? Nearby restaurants were jealous.
From the article, “Giving the pedestrianized Clark Street dining district back to cars this summer would be a very foolish thing to do“
Obviously the solution to that is creating more car-free streets for the restaurants that want them! “I emailed a bunch of restaurants [on Clark] and one operator told me about all the benefits of last year’s closure,” McCray added. “They did not want to be quoted but said things that sounded great, like more employees, more income per employee, higher staff morale, and safer Clark street due to added security that all businesses paid for. You could feel the safety, community, and good energy on the streets.”
Isn’t that just amazing? Something that is so good for city gets shut down, just because other restaurants were jealous. Goes to show how bad jealousy can be. It’s like the child saying, “if I can’t have this toy, then nobody will.”