Social dining and drinking outdoors in the downtown of cities may become the new norm.

We have seen these little domes, tented areas and blocked off streets that are dedicated to socializing outdoors for dining and drinking because of the pandemic. More and more people keep getting vaccinated as the numbers of COVID-19 cases are at an all time high says we are not out of the woods yet.

Actually we have come out of the buildings with our socializing as a society here in Grand Rapids and all across West Michigan. You see almost every downtown area where there are dining domes and and roped off areas for drinks. As it warms up we will probably see more and more of these areas popping up.

According to WOOD, Lowell City Manager Mike Burns said, "I had seen these districts popping up. I saw the Rockford one and then at first when I heard about it, I wasn't so sure because it was like our downtown is spread y out. But then when the restaurants go shut down again, we needed to do something."

I have always enjoyed dining outside and prefer to eat that way. I just don't get much free time to enjoy it but if this pandemic continues to hang on, I will be planning more dinner dates outdoors this year.

For now the outdoor dinning and drinking areas are a temporary fix until we can get back to indoor dining safely.

I am still not sure how cities like Grand Rapids are going to pull off safe areas for things like the fireworks, parades and other outdoor events that are planned in the city for the summer and fall.

Many towns are keeping streets closed where there are restaurant and bar districts and this may grow and more and more businesses need to do something or close for good. I think we all can agree we would like them to remain open and in business.

There are still ways to enjoy restaurants and bars in West Michigan, you just have to plan to be outside when you enjoy them. If you are getting used to them, I guess that is a good thing because this may become our new norm if the coronavirus doesn't get under control.

Social Distancing Zodiac

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