Approximately three months ago I was fortunate to move downtown.

It has always been a dream of mine to move to the heart of the city, leave my car parked for most of the week and enjoy the amenities within the urban core.

Coincident with my relocation to downtown was the local, state and national lockdown designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus so hospital capacity could ramp up and meet the first wave's surge of infections. 

By the grace of God it appears that our region's hospitals--Sarasota Memorial, Doctor's, Venice Regional and Blake--avoided the grave scenarios faced by New York as well as Italy, Spain and other hard-hit countries. 

But the pause in the economic rhythm that resulted in the hundreds if not thousands of lives saved in the Sarasota-Manatee region came at a steep economic cost to working people and small business owners.

In fact, the Sarasota-Manatee unemployment rate tripled from 4.2% in March to over 14% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

These economic headwinds have already begun to result in commercial casualties right here in our backyard: "...But for some businesses, it’s too late. The St. Armands Circle Association says six businesses have already closed for good due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closures that came along with it." 

The combination of federal assistance and city and county grant programs, augmented by any revenues derived from carry-out orders and online sales for gift shops, have allowed some business to survive the deep freeze, while others were simply unable to meet their fixed costs.

For those out of work, the state's unemployment insurance system has been very difficult to navigate. 

Many in our community are facing economic devastation, despite the best efforts of government and local philanthropies. Re-tooling the economy to meet the challenges presented by this "new normal" will take many months and billions in investment from the private, public and independent sectors.

Recently, at the urging of City Commissioner Hagen Brody, select downtown thoroughfares have been opened to pedestrians—that’s you and me—and closed to motorized vehicular traffic.

Opening up Main Street, State Street and Lemon Avenue by closing them to automobile and motorcycle traffic has given hope to small business owners and hundreds of workers trying to make ends meet. 

This no-cost solution allows restaurants to adhere to CDC guidelines while operating at a capacity that makes economic sense. I surmise that de-commissioning every other indoor table makes the calculus very difficult from an owner's perspective. 

Loaning a roadway to our community's struggling restaurants so that hundreds of servers, cooks and hosts/hostesses may rejoin the workforce is a win-win for our City.

Prior to the lockdown, motorcyclists, after a wild night at Smokin' Joes and Gator Club would roar down Main Street, awakening me, a heavy sleeper. (I have my motorcycle designation by the way--nothing against motorcyclists) 

From my perspective, pedestrian safety has been enhanced by the mid-week/weekend street “openings.”

The cacophony of motorcycle mufflers has been replaced with uplifting Latin melodies gracing the ears of couples dancing in the street, margaritas in hand. 

I first enjoyed our new streetscape late last month; listening to live music and even partaking in a house margarita for which El Melvin has become well-known. 

As for automobile ingress/egress, I experienced little to no inconvenience as I shuffle down Miramar Court and into the garage. 

When I hear the guitarist or vocalist, I think of the server who is now able to make her car payment again or the small business owner who can call back her kitchen staff.

Should cars and motorcycles again overrun our urban core and restrict restaurants to limited sidewalk seating, six closures on St. Armands Circle could turn into twelve on Main Street.

Vacant storefronts become makeshift shelters for the homeless. Commercial foreclosures put downward pressure on adjacent home values. And downtown begins to look a lot like it did when Burger King was on the corner of Lemon and Main. 

It is incumbent upon us to make small sacrifices so that our neighbors can just get by.

Gabriel Hament is a downtown resident and Sarasota native.