Sidewalk Cafes Encourage Street Life

Another summer with many weeks spent in a couple of cities: Berlin and Sofia, Bulgaria. It would be hard to find two European capitals that are more dissimilar. But what they share is street life. Wherever there are sidewalks and any sort of food service, there are tables on the sidewalk. People read and watch and drink and talk and enjoy. It is a part of why cities attract us. I think of Hollywood Boulevard and the empty sidewalk space there. Walk downtown and its stretches of concrete.

A new Grand Avenue will never be grand unless it has lively sidewalk action, which means tables and chairs actually out on the street, obviously a city phobia (letters, July 5).

Judith Hansen

Los Angeles