It will be interesting to see as things return to normal, what parts of our society will fully revert to a pre-pandemic "normal", and what parts we were merely just lazily continuing to enact that, upon examination, don't really make all that much business sense. Will all restaurants look at that field of parking the same way again, having seen its potential as productive income-producing land that they happen to already own?
Absolutely, some will not. In some cases, that parking is very necessary to bring in maximum customers for a fully-functional business model that works where they are located. But some may say, “our business did not really mind the loss of a few spaces." And for parking lots built on land that they already own, shouldn't that be up to the business?
In some neighborhoods, people may miss seeing an active streetscape with diners, drinkers and customers enlivening the scene, with added eyes making their streets safer places. Sure, it's public right-of-way, but isn't it up to the public how they'd like to use their right-of-way? Is it really highest-and-best use to devote so much otherwise productive square footage entirely to private vehicles?
Modern zoning imposes parking requirements on all businesses in a very heavy-handed and often outdated manner that is still based on the models and values that in many cases were written for a very different world. Hopefully our cities will take advantage of this rare opportunity to re-think how they approach their policies that exert a structural impact on where we live.