@D, to be fair, pedestrians are equally close to vehicular traffic in places all over the world, this is not unique to Portland. Also, the proximity of cafe seating to traffic is not something that the City needs to go all "nanny state" over. People can assess the risks for themselves pretty easily, and if they don't think it's safe, they will just take a seat inside. Trust me, there are some decisions that people can make for themselves without government getting involved.

It's great to see the City reclaiming part of the public ROW from privately-owned cars. This space should be managed to maximize public benefit, and it's hard to see how letting people store their private cars for free does ANYTHING for the public. Sure, it benefits the car owner, and perhaps the nearby business, but it's an unfair subsidy -- at the public expense -- of the car owner and/or the private company.

Parking spaces in areas (like SE Division, Hawthorne, Belmont, Broadway, etc.) where there's more demand than supply should be metered, and the resulting revenue should be spent on public services (e.g. maintenance of the public ROW; public schools; community centers).

Creating parklets that are privately-controlled is a lot like giving the same space to a private car driver. Let's hope the City gets smart about this, adds meters nearby, and then charges the restaurants whatever they would otherwise earn in foregone meter revenue.

a solution of sorts but i won't eat beside cars and traffic anywhere

It is pretty bizarre no one has a problem with a restaurant basically taking over a public space for a nominal fee, car owners have to move their car but restaurant owners can throw out anyone they want.

Maybe Portland is really just that more conservative than New York and Seattle?