Despite Concerns, Outdoor Dining Patios Need to Stay

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In the early afternoon hours of June 21, 2025, an accident occurred at the corner of State and Pleasant Streets.  A 2016 Cadillac made a right turn onto Pleasant Street and smashed into the rear of a parked vehicle, forcing it into two potted plants in large containers that were intended to protect customers seated outside Angie’s restaurant. According to the formal police accident report, the driver of the Cadillac admitted to being “dizzy,” (aka “drunk” according to an eyewitness). 

He continued to accelerate, which pushed the vehicle he rammed  into a table where two patrons were seated. Witnesses said it was only the quick reactions of one member of the seated couple, a young man, that saved his companion from very serious injury (“If it wasn’t for him, she’d have been under the car!”). His leg was pinned between one of the flower pots and the decking at Angie’s, and he was taken to Anna Jaques with a non-serious, but certainly worrisome, leg injury. 

Eating on the patios (also known as parklets) outside Angie’s is one of my great pleasures. The turkey burgers with avocado and cole slaw are terrific!

There’s some controversy regarding parklets lining Pleasant and State streets. Some critics don’t believe the restaurateurs make an adequate payment to the city for the street space occupied by their wood decks platforms. Others point with anxiety toward accidents such as this one and the potential problems created by pedestrians navigating complications involving sidewalks that abut the parklets. 

These concerns have merit, but, in my opinion, they pale in the face of the benefits parklets provide. 

Parklets are unique kind public spaces that increase social interaction, put more greenery into city life, can be deployed with flexibility, generate income for the city and increase foot traffic and revenue for the businesses that provide them.

Elaborating on this last point, parklets can be vitally important to servers and other hourly employees working at Newburyport restaurants with parklets. Without the parklets, more than a few of them wouldn’t make their nuts. The warm weather season in Newburyport isn’t long, and increased patronage that goes along with parklets make a big difference to the incomes of these hardworking people. 

Let’s step back to a more macro view of The Port’s parklets.  

Approximately 20 million Americans traditionally visit Europe’s biggest cities every year. Why?

Of course, there are many factors contributing to the thriving city culture of places like Paris and Rome, but the street life created by outdoor dining is certainly one of them. They work so well in European cities they’ve become staples of the culinary scene – and they are working here. 

Two Jersey Barriers now protect Angie’s from vehicular traffic, as well as the two large flower pots that were there before the accident. If The Port really loved the parklet in front of Angie’s (and maybe at some other locations as well) it would eliminate the parking spaces that are available immediately at the corner of State and Pleasant, like the one the Caddy ran into. Big wheeled trucks have a hard time making that turn to deliver food to the restaurants. Making parking safer is an easy way to support an even more vibrant downtown hub for Newburyport while increasing parklet revenues at the same time. 

Exact estimates are hard to come by, but a conservative guess is that more than 10% of Massachusetts is paved over by roads and parking lots. Automotive vehicle owners pay virtually nothing to  use road surfaces paid for via taxes. This includes the two parking spaces at the corner of State and Pleasant and elsewhere on the street. I think we can give them up – or at least some of them up – for the benefits of the parklets those business owners are paying for.

Michael Sales
Newburyport resident

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