Section Of Charles Street Shutdown Saturday For Outdoor Shopping, Dining
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A section of Charles Street was shut down Saturday for a day of outdoor shopping and dining.
With Charles Street shut down, there was more room to move around, more room to practice social distancing and more room to support local businesses.
With the sun shining, and the threat of cars temporarily removed, Phil Han and his family enjoyed a stroll down Charles Street.
"I think maybe we went to all the pumpkin farms in the area that we could've gone to, so this is a nice way to change it up and have a snack and walk down the street," Han said.
Han is the owner of Dooby's, one of the hundreds of businesses that benefited from the first-ever Charles Street Promenade.
"Seeing guys being able to walk and bike and take their little ones out and feel like they have a lot of safe space is everything we're looking for in the city," Han said.
For 12 hours, Charles Street was closed to cars between Saratoga and North Avenue, all in an effort to give businesses a little boost.
It was organized in part by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.
"You'll notice the sidewalks here are narrow which makes it hard to have outdoor dining for restaurants and retailers," Mike Evitts, with Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, said. "So we've been working on that for most of the summer, and as we were working on it, the idea came to let's put that on steroids, and let's make it big and beneficial for everyone."
Social distancing rules and masks requirements were in place to follow the mayor's executive order.
This was the first Charles Street Promenade. They're hoping to learn from it so they can continue helping businesses.
