Public Spaces
Walk-up windows are good urbanism
A macaron shop looking to open in a small space in Georgetown is proposing to sell their sweets from an open window facing the sidewalk, rather than from an interior register. Customers wouldn't actually go inside the shop, they'd merely stop outside it, and order through a large window.
Photo by BeyondDC on Flickr.
Hopefully the store will be approved, because walk-up windows are great urbanism. How so?
- They provide additional "eyes on the street," which deters crime.
- They provide passing-by pedestrians with something interesting to look at, which makes the street more pedestrian friendly. Visual diversity is an important consideration in walkability. If pedestrians feel bored, walks seem longer. If walks seem longer, people opt not to walk.
- They decrease the distance between destinations. Pedestrians want to walk the shortest possible distance to their destination. Giving shoppers the option of buying a product without going into a store decreases how far they have to walk.
More activity on the sidewalk is a good thing. We want it. Sidewalk activity is what makes for good cities.
To be fair, there are occasional places where adding a walk-up window would be troublesome. Especially narrow sidewalks that already have especially heavy pedestrian traffic, for example. A hypothetical walk-up window at the corner of Wisconsin and M Street might get in the way, and ultimately harm walkability by inconveniencing too many other people. That's a legitimate concern.
But 99.9% of the time, walk-up windows are great. The proposed walk-up macaron shop in Georgetown is way up Wisconsin Avenue, well north of the busiest area, on a stretch of sidewalk with plenty of room for existing shops to put out clothes racks and wicker furniture. It should be approved.
And hopefully there will be even more proposals in the future for these great features of urbanism.
 | Dan Malouff is a professional transportation planner for the Arlington County Department of Transportation. He has a degree in Urban Planning from the University of Colorado, and lives a car-free lifestyle in Northwest Washington. His posts are his own opinions and do not represent the views of his employer in any way. He runs the blog BeyondDC and also contributes to the Washington Post Local Opinions blog.   |
Comments
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Would love to see some coffee windows that are set up this way, since we don't have many of the Seattle style mini-drive thrus.
by Arl Fan on Jan 5, 2012 12:59 pm
by Andrew on Jan 5, 2012 1:00 pm
Yes, it would be more expensive, probably, but it would solve the problem of year-round customer base.
by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Jan 5, 2012 1:30 pm
In Georgetown we already have two walk-up windows: Wingos and Muncheez. I love Wingos, and they thrive, but they only use the window to hand food to people outside after they ordered inside. Muncheez appears to have given up trying to sell crepes out the window after no one actually used it.
The point is that it has to be needed to work. Function must dictate form. If there is no room inside for customers to come in and order (or in the case of Wingo's, stay inside after they order), then it will work simply because there's no other option. If not, it's a gimmick.
In this particular case, the only reason they're floating the window idea is that they can't afford to renovate the inside to accommodate customers. They hope that the window business is successful enought to enable them to build out. I wish them the best, but it just doesn't sound like they have a great business plan. Keep in mind that just down the block there's the fantastic Patisserie Poupon that also sells macaroons, but offers a lot else, including seats and tables. Like many aspirational window dreams before this one, I fear it won't pan out.
The question is not whether they should be allowed to sell food out their window, but whether they should be able to replace their current window with one that would allow sales. I think they should be allowed simply because even if they fail, the new window won't be such a terrible addition.
by Topher Mathews on Jan 5, 2012 1:48 pm
The same way food trucks do business.
The problem to me seems less that it's a walk-up window and more that they are only going to sell macaroons?!?!?! Are macaroons the next cupcakes or something? I haven't been to NYC in a while, so I don't know if macaroons are all the rage in Park Slope these days.
Btw, my favorite walk-up window is the Soup Nazi in Manhattan. Delicious soup and it's fun to get yelled at.
by Falls Church on Jan 5, 2012 1:51 pm
I used to work at Gifford's in college, in their Rockville store, which had a walk-up window. During the summer months, it got a fair amount of use from people who didn't want to come inside (for instance, if they had dogs). I think neighborhood context has a lot to do with it - E Street can be a pretty miserable place to be with the FBI across the street, so you're going to get diminished foot traffic, which in turn means fewer people to come to your walk-up window. At Rockville Town Square (and Bethesda Row, which also had a walk-up window), you have an environment that is more conducive to strolling, so you potentially have more people to use them.
The bigger challenge is staffing a walk-up window. You have to have an extra person serving customers and an additional register (so you're not tying up the register for inside customers). On busy nights, the Rockville Gifford's had lines out the door, and someone would try to go to the walk-up window, where there was no line, but we didn't have anyone staffing the window. There also has to be some kind of protocol for who you're serving at the window vs. inside. It's not as obvious as a drive-thru (everyone's walking in!).
Either way, I think walk-up windows are generally a good idea, if done right.
by dan reed! on Jan 5, 2012 2:01 pm
Yes, macaroons were the next thing, like in 2011.
by billy d on Jan 5, 2012 2:02 pm
So, so disgusting but somehow strangely appealing when you're in an Amsterdam state of mind. Ironically, Febo means "tasty" in Dutch.
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Netherlands/Provincie_Noord_Holland/Amsterdam-463377/Restaurants-Amsterdam-FEBO_Dutch_Fast_Food_chain-BR-1.html
by Falls Church on Jan 5, 2012 2:09 pm
thats sounds like an automat, which used to be common in NYC
Speaking of NYC, lots of pizza places there manage to sell slices at a window. Works pretty well.
by AWalkerInTheCity on Jan 5, 2012 2:20 pm
But E St. has tables and chairs outside that people use a good deal, so you can't chalk too much up to an unpleasant atmosphere. I agree that the problem is the need to staff a window. That's why it needs to be needed to justify the expense. You're right that it can work, I just don't actually know of any examples of it actually working in DC.
And I'm still betting that the next big thing will be artisanal pixie sticks! It makes no sense at all, and that's why it's pure gold of an idea.
by Topher Mathews on Jan 5, 2012 2:25 pm
RE: Gifford's: the E St. location has another problem, too - the place next door (the Washington Welcome Center, where I used to work) has a Ben & Jerry's inside, which used to run discount promotions with the tour company that owns the space. So if you wanted ice cream, you could come in, get B&J at a discount by showing a ticket or something, and then eat it on the trolley while you continued your tour. That and the familiarity of the brand took more traffic away from Gifford's, I'll wager.
Personally, I think walk-ups are a wonderful idea, and in the right neighborhood (read: one which is already walkable) will do quite well. One of my favorite travel food memories is of just such a stall attached to a hotel in Krakow, selling simple pork sandwiches for a few zloty each. Cheap and tasty...and yes, there was a line when I went there. There won't be a problem if people are already walking someplace else for a retail purpose.
by Ser Amantio di Nicolao on Jan 5, 2012 2:29 pm
by Theo16 on Jan 5, 2012 2:53 pm
by dcd on Jan 5, 2012 3:00 pm
It's a fancy French version of a Moon Pie.
by Christine on Jan 5, 2012 3:04 pm
Fascinating. I never imagined these things existed anywhere besides a quirky mid-sized european city where all the food names are something like Kalfsvleeskroket and the "food" looks like:
by Falls Church on Jan 5, 2012 4:20 pm
As someone who has 2 Jack Russell Terriers that I always walk, it would be nice to be able to grab a coffee or something small at a walk-up window on occasion.
But my biggest problem would be sidewalk congestion. I'd say a definite no-no for Georgetown and Adams Morgan where the sidewalks are already a mess.
Otherwise, I say, why not.
And by the way, if you want Macarons..the best are at The Sweet Lobby in Cap Hill!
by LuvDusty on Jan 5, 2012 5:11 pm
Interestingly, the picture in the corner of the article is from University Way in Seattle, which is lined with these windows. Not every store has one, but it seems like there's at least one per block.
by BeyondDC on Jan 5, 2012 5:19 pm
Why can't you just say walk ups are good for cities? Perfectly serviceable word.
by Jazzy on Jan 5, 2012 5:58 pm
by Frank IBC on Jan 5, 2012 6:08 pm
by Jazzy on Jan 5, 2012 6:13 pm
I like the idea, at least for seasonal use. It reminds me of going to Dairy Queen as a kid. It was in a parking lot, but you would walk up to a window and order.
In Cape Cod a lot of seafood places are walk-up windows. There's seating outside. The idea behind this is that people sort of fan out with their goodies and enjoy them in the outside environment -- on the pier or whatever. This would work well in a city, near a park like Farragut, McPherson, or Dupont (but with fewer bums and hippies)
by Ward 1 Guy on Jan 5, 2012 6:44 pm
by Frank IBC on Jan 5, 2012 6:46 pm
A macaroon is a small cookie that's more dense, made of egg whites and sugar, and usually coated in coconut flakes. They are often dipped in chocolate. In France, this is called a "congolais."
And to those who grouse about the cold: we seldom get real cold here in DC, and as mentioned above, the food trucks survive just fine. It takes a simple change of cultural behavior to get folks tuned into walk-up service windows.
And they can do just fine on the Wisconsin Avenue sidewalk: you don't need width to get these things to work. What may be needed is density, which would spread out the crowds (something that DC planners are seldom good at doing). If the Bean Counter created a service window in tandem with this macaron place, it could work well.
And @dan reed!, if the macaron place only has a walk-up window, the staffing issues are moot. Also, as mentioned by @dcd, Paris has tons of walk-up créperies and café windows that work in tandem with an indoor serving area: usually the setup has the window as part of an indoor oder/pick-up area, and it works just fine.
by Rudi on Jan 5, 2012 6:53 pm
Then, downtown, near metro center Popeyes has or used to have a walk up window.
by Jazzy on Jan 5, 2012 7:24 pm
Perhaps the reason that the Madrid walk-up window stood out more was that the window extended only down to counter level, unlike that of 14th & U McDonalds, where it looks like any other door. And any McDonalds probably stood out more in Madrid.
P.S. - Captcha had the Greek letter Beta with a superscript "1". This is getting ridiculous.
by Frank IBC on Jan 5, 2012 8:15 pm
by YouStreet on Jan 5, 2012 10:33 pm
2. The original Murky coffee was a kind of walk up place, very narrow space.
3. The Philadelphia Water Ice on H Street NE has a walk up window, although the place has an otherwise hideous facade treatment.
by Richard Layman on Jan 6, 2012 8:58 am
WTF? This doesn't need to be specifically zoned. Allow it in all places where retail is allowed, and if they succeed, great, they stay open. If they don't, they close.
Walk up windows are typically attached to larger establishments-- I've seen this frequently in other cities.
by JustMe on Jan 6, 2012 9:32 am
by MrTinDC on Jan 6, 2012 9:34 am
by Dave Roffman on Jan 6, 2012 9:45 am
by JustMe on Jan 6, 2012 10:17 am
by selxic on Jan 6, 2012 11:29 am
by Richard Layman on Jan 6, 2012 12:16 pm
Wow, this is an impressive amount of racial dog-whistling. And in just one paragraph too!
by Phil on Jan 6, 2012 2:40 pm
Right, and then the terrorists will have won.
by Falls Church on Jan 6, 2012 3:39 pm
by spookiness on Jan 6, 2012 4:46 pm
Whether walk-up windows succeed or not is something for the businesses to work out for themselves. What would really be the consequences of allowing walk-up windows where, in your opinion, they would not be commercially viable? If they're not commercially viable, then the issue will take care of itself-- no zoning restrictions required. It's really not for you to judge.
by JustMe on Jan 6, 2012 5:45 pm
by kob on Jan 7, 2012 8:48 pm
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