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The city transportation department has secured a permit to close part of SW Ankeny to car traffic all summer long, according to a report today in the Oregonian.

The alley-like stretch of SW Ankeny between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue is always busy with pedestrians (it's where the VooDoo Donuts line merges with the people smoking outside Valentine's) and the city and bike/ped advocates have long discussed how to turn it carfree—it went carless for a weekend back in 2006.

But what's exciting about this closure, which will run June 21st through October 21st if city council signs off on the permit, is that it's businesses, not transportation wonks who are pushing to open up the street. According to the O article, each of seven businesses on the block are ponying up $200 during every summer month to compensate the city for the parking revenue that will be lost from Ankeny's spots. It's good to see businesses get it that more parking does not always equal more business, that they can likely get more customers by making their block nicer for people to actually walk around on.

Here's the list of businesses pitching in: Via Tribunali/Caffe Vita, VooDoo Doughnut, Berbati's, Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, Valentine's, Shanghai Tunnel, and Perierra Creperie/Central bar.

Our bike issue last year focused on some of the 157 bike-centric businesses in Portland and some that use bikes to get work done just because it's the most cost-efficient and effective option for them (like Swan Island boilermakers). But these businesses on Ankeny aren't "bike businesses"... they're just regular businesses that understand opening up space on the street for bikes and pedestrians can improve their business overall.