Pop-up patios gain momentum in Hamilton

Hamilton’s “pop-up” or street patio program has grown in its second year.

The initiative allows restaurants to install patios within parking spaces, and as we head into the summer months there are 13 of them throughout the city’s business improvement areas.

Eight restaurants took advantage of the pilot program last summer, when it was first introduced.

Almost half of them are concentrated on James Street North and King William, within the city core, but many others are outside of the downtown on Ottawa Street, Concession Street and in Westdale Village.

General Manager of Planning and Economic Development Jason Thorne says it’s an idea that is “gradually catching on” and which attracts more people to an area while creating a more “vibrant place to be.”

Thorne suggests one reason for the increase in street patios, during the program’s second year, is that businesses are now allowed to extend their liquor licences to the patios.