David Banks passed along a shot of how residential homes had converted to retail early in the 20th century. Historian John Atkin sends along another example, this time from the 19th:
I found this conversion of a house to retail in the 1890s that might be one of the earliest such example. This is on Richards just south of Pender and you can see the change in the roof shingle colour and siding style.
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John also adds an example of a pop-up cafe in Russia, built for the summer, “taking some of our cool curb extensions a little further.”
To see inside, go here.
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UPDATE: Portland just caught up with San Francisco and Vancouver. From Cyclepath:
… the first “street seats” installation in Portland.
The new program was launched last Friday (8/11) to little fanfare by the Bureau of Transportation; but it looks like Japanese ramen joint Wafu got a head start.
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UPDATE: Chicago gets its first parklet – in Andersonville:
the picture of the house/store conversion reminds me of the Sim City game where the buildings change from one thing to the next