When someone walks along a street, they’re gone in a moment. But when they sit down to a meal, they might be there for an hour or more. Because of this, the sidewalk cafe is the most powerful tool to enhance people’s desire to walk in a place.

Why the key question, always, is this: "Is this this an upward trade?"

Of the four types of recovery facing America cities and towns—disaster, sprawl, disinvestment, and the recovery of community for those fleeing climate change—the recovery of places from serious disinvestment arguably gets the least amount of press...