Orlando’s recent approval of Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) incentives to assist restaurants in opening or improving sidewalk cafes is a positive step in the pseudo post-pandemic era in which we are currently operating. Studies by both the National Restaurant Association and the League of Cities have indicated that outdoor dining benefits the restaurants themselves and also bolsters the vibrancy and liveliness of the urban streetscape. It goes without saying that workforce shortages continue to plague restaurants and other dining facilities, but, nonetheless, Orlando’s CRA Sidewalk Café incentives lean into the healing process for both community dining and entertainment and downtown corridors.
Originally posted for the Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100.