Two years ago, my wife and I got to know an amazing 12 year old girl as a summer host family through www.Kidsave.org . When we traveled to Bogota, Colombia to complete her adoption, people told us not to miss Ciclovia. Every Sunday from 7 am-2 pm, over 90 miles of roads are ‘opened’ to the people. Most walk, some jog, many ride bikes or rollerblade. Others simply enjoy watching the river of hundreds of thousands of people going by. Every 8 miles or so, we would hear music. As we approached, we saw hundreds of people of all ages dancing along with aerobics instructors. Smiles and laughter abounded. Happiness. Happiness in a city once known only for its’ violence, poverty and despair.
I asked people in Bogota what they would do if Ciclovia stopped. They always reacted with shock and consider Ciclovia an essential part of city living. As their former mayor, Enrique Penalosa, said: “As a bird needs to fly… people need to walk.”
I wondered which cities in the United States provided this great opportunity for all ages, incomes, backgrounds, and abilities. Imagine my surprise to learn that there wasn’t a single one! (Last May, El Paso held the first Ciclovia in the US.)
Back in Baltimore, my daughter wondered why there was no Ciclovia here. With the help of One Less Car and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, Baltimore will be the first city on the east coast to launch Ciclovia, now called Sunday Streets this October for four weeks. We now have an opportunity to realize her, and our mayors, vision of a cleaner, healthier, greener, and safer city with Sunday Streets. It will become our physical internet; An open network of human interactions that allows everyone full access in attaining our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yes, that Happiness word again.
The possibilities are limitless: Farmers markets, youth employment, exercise classes, matinee performances, and a venue for our hardworking nonprofits to hold special events.
Depending on how much we all participate, we may see it become a city fixture with increasing mileage and different routes into the future. There are many opportunities for my fellow bloggers and their wonderfully audacious ideas to play roles as well….Now it’s time for us all to get outside and have some fun together!
To see Ciclovia/Sunday Streets in action, take a look at this 9 minute film: http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia/
Yes! Yes! Yes! Count me in whenever it’s time for the planning or the execution. Maybe it could extend from Aberdeen through Baltimore to Annapolis. Or even if we just started with Owings Mills to Canton. Thank you for bringing this idea to our city.
The HIghway to Nowhere (Route 40 west) would be a perfect place!
This is exactly what Baltimore needs – a real, legal and enjoyable street-life. I hope special weekly celebrations in October leads to year-round Sunday Streets, and, even better, to a daily sense of life and safety in Baltimore neighborhoods.
Many years [decades?] ago my wife and I participated in a group that called itself Parks for People. They organized to preserve open space on the UC Berkeley campus by celebrating on the open spaces.
This sounds to me like a wonderful Streets for People activity and I look forward to being a part of it!
this is great news! how did Baltimore convince the mayor that this needed to happen? i would love to be able to bring Sunday Streets to my town.
congratulations.
Can’t wait to come to Baltimore to ride in it!
If anyone would like a DVD copy of our film on Ciclovia in Bogota, please send an email to Lily Bernheimer at info@streetfilms.org and give your address. It will help you advocate for it in your city!
Ciclovia creates an opportunity for community to occur, by simply removing the barriers we have built, the perceptions we have created, and the fear we have fostered. The individual car while convenient has created habitats that are toxic and segregated.
But walking, biking, singing and dancing will bring us together and restore our health and habitat for a few hours. I can hear the voice of Martha Reeves again, “… it doesn’t matter what you wear, just as long as you are there…” Bravo, Ciclovia!
Ciclovia will allow us to see what we look like now and to imagine what we can become, as we celebrate being out and about in this living, breathing Place.
Dear Greg,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your enthusiastic hard work is paying off and it will provide hundreds of thousands of people in Baltimore much enjoyment.
The success will turn it into a 52 week a year event.
I wish you all the very best.
Gil
Thanks everyone for the comments! One of the unique aspects of Ciclovia/Sunday Streets is the connectivity with and between neighborhoods. To ensure that connection, the routes appear to work best going down residential and retailing streets and not on higher speed roadways that are isolated and unfriendly feeling even on the best days (Jones Falls Expressway and the Road to Nowhere…) The great thing about Sunday Streets is that it can still use parts of those roads if necessary. All our infrastructure is already here. No need for millions of dollars for what usually ends up becoming exclusive venues. Sunday Streets is fully inclusive, free, and dynamic in ways that will be fun to see unfold. Keep those great ideas coming as we make Sunday Streets a regular part of our lives!
Wow that is just great. It is fun and innovative ideas like this that all our cities need to embrace. Good job Baltimore! Hopefully one day my city, Milwaukee, will attempt something like this.
Thanks for pushing forward on this; it sounds great. We’ll be there, with our 10-year-old, born in Guatemala.
I think the idea is just great! I’d like to be a part of this myself — anything to bring some wholesome fun to our City, our children, our neighborhoods!
Greg,
This is a great idea and let me know if there is anything I can do to help put this together.
Neal
What a great idea, I would love to be part of this happening. We need to have happiness and
fun. Count me in.
Dorothy
Hi Greg — Can you give me an update on how the October Sunday Streets events went? I missed anything about them… and would love to know what went well and how to expand this brilliant idea. Any update you have would be great.
Thanks!
Very exciting idea Greg! I’d love to see this happen in our city!
The total cost of Sunday Streets for four Sundays this spring is $205,000 with Baltimore picking up half. Future Sundays will cost much less as police presence can be greatly reduced once we prove there is safety in numbers! We need a Happiness event more than ever.
HiGreg,
I am emailing on the behalf of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (lsna) of Chicago. We are seeking information on the Baltimore Sunday Streets, to assist in the progression of Sunday Parkways in Chicago. We are also hopeful that we can put an event together, where a representative from each city that host these types of events, can come to, for the progression of us all.
Currently we would like to know the following information:
Lead Organization
Point Person
Types of Sponsors
Date & Time of the Pilot Event
Date & Tiem of the Next Event
Route Description
Any Special Notes about this event.
Thanks in Advance for your help