More outdoor dining and indoor fun are welcome

Hats off to the city of Columbus for two recent moves that should help residents better cope with the hardships of life in a pandemic.

From now until Halloween, restaurants that are able to comply with certain rules will be allowed to expand their outdoor seating, enabling them to serve more customers while maintaining safe social distance.

And, after a long sad summer without city pools or many of the city’s usual recreation programs, activities for kids and senior citizens are being beefed up and two key facilities are reopening for the first time since March.

Hard-pressed restaurant owners, struggling with distancing requirements that keep numbers down and a statewide order banning alcohol sales after 10 p.m., no doubt would have preferred to see the city act faster. They’ve been asking for expanded outdoor seating for weeks and meeting resistance from city officials.

Proprietors who have been around a while probably thought back to 2011, when Downtown businesses revolted against overzealous code enforcement that kicked some Pearl Market vendors off of the sidewalks, had inspectors measuring how far fronds from a planter fern stuck out toward the sidewalk and even questioned the legality of the Short North Gallery Hop.

We’d like to think Columbus bureaucrats have progressed since then in their appreciation for the vitality of a busy urban streetscape.

In opening the streets just a bit, the city follows the lead of Dublin, Hilliard and other suburban communities that already have blocked off downtown streets to allow for outdoor socializing with more safe distance.

Of course, crowded urban streetscapes are a direct public health threat right now and have to be put on hold; that’s why allowing a bigger space for outdoor dining makes sense. The new rules won’t work for everyone; street tables will be allowed only where the speed limit is 30 mph or lower and in lanes that currently are designated for parking.

Parking lot tables can’t take up more than 25% of the establishment’s required parking spaces and any tents used must be open on three sides.

We appreciate the caution and flexibility shown by city officials in crafting rules to allow more dining without compromising safety. We hope that the next two months can make the difference for businesses teetering on the pandemic bubble.

And if it leads eventually to a post-pandemic Columbus with livelier streets and parking lots from spring through fall, so much the better.

For city residents less likely to frequent trendy restaurants — kids and seniors — expanding Recreation and Parks offerings could make life more fun and less stressful.

Starting Tuesday, the Columbus Aquatics Center and Cultural Arts Center will reopen for the first time since the city and state went into COVID closure mode. Masks, temperature checks, social distancing and other standard COVID protections will apply, but we’re betting swimmers and art fans will be glad to comply.

Also Tuesday, the city’s other rec centers will expand their hours and begin offering more classes, activities and programs. Many are aimed at helping families manage schooling outside of the traditional classroom: “Active learning” sites will have space set aside for getting homework done.

Some programs will address wellness and mental health — something many quarantine-rattled folks can use.

Robust recreation opportunities are among the benefits of living in a big city. We urge Columbus residents to find something they’ll enjoy, starting at the Recreation and Parks Department website.

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