Streetfilms' guest correspondent Frank Lopez leads this tour of Vancouver's Car-Free Day, which opens up streets in four neighborhoods for community festivals. Dancing on the pavement, lunching on the street, and mid-block lucha libre wrestling matches ensue.
Just goes to show you, one can come up with an idea like this in a place like New York, but it can only actually be done in a less politically frozen, less feudal place elsewhere.
This wasn't a bad thing, but we were the last place on earth to get Cable TV too. It took years to come up with a deal in which "everyone" got paid.
Yesterday was car-free Columbus Avenue day from 86th to 96th street and it was great. In the morning before the vendors got there it was nice and quiet because there were no cars or buses, the most relaxing Sunday morning I've had in a long time. Later on there literally was dancing in the streets as a Santana cover band played near 96th Street. It was the first weekend day in a long time that we didn't venture off Columbus. When my two-year-old stepped out the front door and saw the street closed and people walking around he stopped in his tracks with his mouth wide open. The only problem is that crosstown traffic is still going through.
Sunday was the first car-free day on 6 miles of roads in Portland, OR, which The Oregonian says found almost universal support, and, "[t]he only inconvenience seemed to stem from the event's popularity."
I also found video coverage where they interviewed people in their cars - some drivers supported the event while others were enraged that they had to drive out of their way. ^shrug^
Great film that does a great job of capturing the essence of car-free day in Vancouver - which happened right outside my window until midnight and I loved every minute of it. Thanks, Frank!
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