Some downtown areas in California could soon resemble New Orleans’ Bourbon Street or the famed Beale Street in Memphis under a new proposal at the State Capitol.
State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced a bill that would allow cities and counties to designate “entertainment zones” where adults could drink alcohol served by bars and restaurants on public streets and sidewalks.
The goal of Senate Bill 969, Wiener says, is economic recovery.
“By allowing this activity in targeted spaces designated by the local community, [this bill] will responsibly activate downtown streets where activity has struggled to rebound since the onset of COVID-19,” Sen. Wiener said in a statement on Friday.
Weiner cited research from the University of Toronto that found foot traffic in California’s largest downtown business districts has not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
San Jose, researchers found, has recovered the most, but Los Angeles and San Francisco are still lagging.