North Beach Cafes Want to Colonize Columbus Parking Spots

As seen on the front page of today's Chron—and also on Eater sister site Curbed—the new North Beach controversy du jour is a new proposal that would see cafes/restaurants extend sidewalk seating to the parking spots along Columbus Avenue. The plan would allow businesses to apply for permits to convert 72 total parking spaces into open areas or space for tables. Now, there's already negative parking in North Beach, but the neighborhood cafes say that it would be a huge boost to business, citing a trial run in September that saw business increase by 30%.

Looking past the rude parking etiquette displayed by the tree above, some non-cafe business owners of North Beach are opposed to the plan, saying that the decreased parking would make business even more difficult and traffic even more congested. In any event, Mayor Plumpjack and his supporters plan to move ahead. Quoth Gav: "We want to activate the streets and create a more European atmosphere that brings a lot more business, a lot more energy and vibrancy to the streets."

And so we turn over the issue to the commenters: Yay/nay?
· North Beach's Plan to Turn Columbus Street Parking Into Sidewalk [Curbed SF]