Bloglander

click to enlarge

Lisa Waananen

The new sidewalk cafe outside River Park Square is bordered by flower planters.

Way back in January when it was too cold to care much, we wrote about how letting businesses spill into the sidewalk with sandwich boards, music and patios can make cities more pedestrian-friendly and lively. (And that means safer, too.)

In Spokane, businesses that want to build a café area on the actual sidewalk — as opposed to private property that happens to be outside — must apply for a permit from the city. Among the requirements: The patio must leave at least 6 feet of unobstructed sidewalk, must not block deliveries for adjacent businesses and must be at least four feet from any street trees.

And the city has quite a few new ones this year. Now that we’ve got some summery weather, here’s the list from the city of all businesses newly permitted this year for their inaugural sidewalk café summer:

River Park Square
808 W. Main Ave.
A seating area outside the front entrance of the mall is bordered by new flower planters, and a popular place to pause with an iced coffee.

The Bartlett
228 W. Sprague Ave.
The wood-fenced patio was just constructed in the past week, and nearly doubles the seating capacity of the music venue’s café area.

The Blind Buck
204 N. Division St.
Partially covered by the bar’s awning, the little patio out front on Division is bordered by a tiny ledge just wide enough for your cold drink.

Wild Dawgs
102 N. Howard St.
The patio outside Wild Dawgs, in the shadow of the Parkade, has full-size tables and feels urban without too much traffic.

River City Brewing
121 S. Cedar St.
On the west end of downtown just up the block from Rocket Bakery’s big outdoor seating area, River City’s patio is a good spot for watching the sun set as trains go by.

Wisconsinburger
916 S. Hatch St.
Located in a residential part of the Perry District — the only one on this list outside the downtown core — Wisconsinburger built a wood deck across the full front of the restaurant.