Watch here without subtitles.

After sponsoring Streetfilms of the first two CicLAvias, the open streets festival in Los Angeles based on Bogota’s Ciclovia, Streetsblog LA faced a dilemma: How can we continue to cover this event that draws over a hundred thousand Angelenos to the streets?  The answer: Make a Streetfilm that was accessible to Southern California’s large Spanish-speaking population.

¡Viva CicLAvia! consists of two parts. First, narrator Mara Corina Arellano Colin explains the history and concept of Los Angeles’s amazing open streets party, including footage and photos from similar festivals in Bogota, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Brussels and Miami. While the narration is a great explanation of the benefits and culture of CicLAvia, the soul of Social Impact Consulting’s efforts are the interviews with participants.

The next five minutes is a parade of Spanish speakers professing their love of CicLAvia.  Whether it’s the team from South Central’s Mendez Bike Shop, the traffic officer spreading his arms while explaining Viva CicLAvia, or Hollywood’s City Councilman Eric Garcetti; the broad smiles in the Southern California sun give a message in any language.  Giving people more chances to play in the sun is good for Los Angeles.

This Streetfilm marked another first for Streetfilms, a directly reader supported video.  L.A. Streetsblog asked its readers if they wanted a Spanish language film on CicLAvia, and when they said yes, the readers were challenged through a Kick Starter campaign to fund the film.  Needless to say, the readers came through.

On Sunday, June 27, Downtown Oakland opened two miles of its streets for traffic-free fun and activities -- zumba dancing, circus arts, BMX bike competitions and performances from local musicians. Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) partnered with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Oaklandish, Oakland YMCA, Cycles of Change, and other civic organizations to create the East Bay's first car-free event in the Ciclovía mold. Preparations are in the works for another Oaklavia in the coming months.

Downtown Roanoke. Photo: ocracokewaves/Flickr

Watching the Ciclovia video was very inspiring. I don't often think that Colombia could be an example for the world. So I feel proud of Bogotá to have many features to showcase, such as Ciclovia and Transmilenio. I thought the video was worth more than 1,000 words, and it was the easiest way to get people's attention toward having a Ciclovia in Roanoke.

At first I used it to introduce Ciclovia to the people that are currently helping me with the event -- city officials, artists, friends, etc. I broadcast it during an Earth Day festival hoping to get some volunteer interest. Now that I'm actually having the event, I'm using it to get more organizations involved. I'm introducing the event with a brief description and including a link to the video so that they get a better idea. 

I really think that without the video (the short version actually is the one I use the most), it would have been very hard to even get a permit for it, because it is such a new concept for this region.

The spectacle of a 6.9-mile car-free route in the middle of Manhattan should make for a banner street photography day. To our New York readers who plan to bring cameras to the event: Upload your shots to Flickr and tag them "streetsblog" -- we'll highlight the best next week. You can also drop us a line at tips@streetsblog.org if you've got a Summer Streets story or experience you want to tell us about. Don't hold back.

Here are a few key points of information from the official Summer Streets website:

• The route runs from the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street, mostly along Lafayette Street and Park Avenue.
• There are three rest stops, each with its own programming running throughout the day. The "arts and culture" rest stop will be at 51st Street and Park. The "health and fitness" rest stop will be at 24th and Park. And the "underground" rest stop will be on Cleveland Place (Lafayette Street) between Spring and Kenmare.
• If you pop a tube on your bike, basic repair will be available at all three rest stops, and at the Bicycle Habitat shop on Lafayette between Spring and Prince.

The City's official Summer Streets web site and press release hit our inbox this morning. Jay-Z is joining Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in inviting New Yorkers to hit seven miles worth of car-free streets in Manhattan this Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bringing it back full circle to Bogotá's Ciclovia, Juan Valdez 100% Colombian coffee is going in as a sponsor.

As in Bogotá and Paris, it looks like the City is making a serious effort to program the event. Organized activities will include bike classes for kids and adults, aikido, salsa dancing, tai-chi, running, rollerblading and hopscotch. Bloomberg is pitching the event as a test run. "We're going to embark on a grand experiment that could dramatically alter the way we use and look at the streets of New York," Bloomberg said in the City's press release. "If the program works, we'll strongly consider doing it again; maybe we'll try it in other parts of the city. If it doesn't work, we won't, but we can't be afraid to find out."

And on that note, let the bitching and moaning about imaginary traffic tie-ups, lack of community input, hidden real estate developer agendas and hippy/yuppie cyclists commence!

There are lots more details, including locations of rest stops, events and free bike helmet give-aways in the City's presser...

MAYOR BLOOMBERG, DOT COMMISSIONER SADIK-KHAN AND JAY-Z INVITE NEW YORKERS TO TAKE TO THE STREETS FOR SUMMER STREETS

Starting Saturday, Activities From Dance to Hopscotch Available from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter today invited New Yorkers from across the five boroughs to take their fun to the streets on three Saturdays this month during Summer Streets. For the next three Saturdays, August 9th, 16th and 23rd, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., vehicle traffic will be replaced along seven miles of City streets by New Yorkers and visitors taking leisurely strolls, going for a bike ride or taking part in organized activities such as aikido, salsa dancing, tai-chi, running, rollerblading and hopscotch. Summer Streets will be open from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park along Lafayette Street, 4th Avenue, Park Avenue and 72nd Street.

"We're going to embark on a grand experiment that could dramatically alter the way we use and look at the streets of New York," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Streets that are normally tied up with cars and trucks will be turned over to the public - so that we can experience this city as never before. If the program works, we'll strongly consider doing it again; maybe we'll try it in other parts of the city. If it doesn't work, we won't, but we can't be afraid to find out."

"We're inviting New Yorkers and visitors to come out and enjoy the City by foot or by bike, and for a few hours, allow people to enjoy it free of vehicles," said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. "Come out and move around, people watch, or just enjoy your morning coffee without the stress of noise and traffic. Enjoy the streets you've been up and down 100 times before, in a whole new way."

Organized activities and other attractions will take place throughout the route. DOT will provide free bike helmets at 24th Street for adults and children from 9 a.m. to noon, as supplies last. New York Road Runners will be leading running groups for all ages and ability levels, and Bike New York will be holding bike riding classes for children and adults. Three rest stops will be located along the route in addition to a main stage at 24th Street, which will feature music performances and other programs. The rest stops, located at Spring, 24th and 51st streets, will also feature art, fitness, dance and cultural activities. These activities can be enjoyed by New Yorkers of all ages, fitness and skill levels. In addition to planned activities, all of the rest stops will have water stations, bike maps and first aid stations. Participants are encouraged to bring their own fitness mats and water bottles, which can be refilled at the water stations. Additional activities will also be held close to the rest stops and emergency services will be present along the length of the route.

Activities are diverse and each rest stop includes a full schedule. For instance, the downtown rest stop at Spring Street will include an aikido class beginning at 10 a.m. while the uptown rest stop will feature a cha-cha class in that time slot. Program schedules will run from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

There will be opportunities to rent or test ride bikes along the route. And for people who come with bikes there will be bike repair provided at each rest stop to ensure everyone can keep rolling along smoothly. Bicycle Habitat will be providing bike repair along the route, and bike sharing will be provided by Bike and Roll. Bike New York and the 5 Boro Bike Club will be leading classes and sharing tips about how to ride safely in New York City.

The City has developed a plan to redirect traffic while ensuring that traffic will flow on nearby streets and emergency vehicles will have unfettered access to the Summer Streets. Residents on streets adjoining the route will have local access and be able to receive deliveries during Summer Streets hours. Working with the Mayor's Community Assistance Unit, DOT has conducted an extensive community outreach operation to inform and educate the public, and address any potential concerns.

Summer Streets has been made possible with the help of sponsors including Crunch, Juan Valdez/100% Colombian Coffee, RCN, Bicycle Habitat and media partners that include Metro, WCBS TV and WABC radio. More information on Summer Streets, including a full list of activities is available at www.nyc.gov.

­Bikes dominate the name and the landscape of Ciclovia, but there is a lot more to it than that. Ciclovi­a days in Bogota are combined with Recreovi­a (pictured at right), a program of free public exercise activities in parks and other car-free areas.[7] Activities include dancing, yoga, and aerobics, led by professionals who are paid by the city and accompanied by festive music.

It also provides tremendous business to vendors who serve Ciclovi­a participants.[1]

Credit for this entry goes to Meg Saggese, Lily Bernheimer, Corey Burger, Nathan Schneider, and Paul Cone. Feel free to get in there and edit, if you'd like.

On a related note, I've noticed an uptick in user-submitted entries on StreetsWiki lately. Thanks for depositing your knowledge with the Livable Streets Network, Streetsbloggers. Keep it coming and watch for your contributions on Wiki Wednesdays.

Last month we reported that DOT was planning a major car-free event this summer in the mold of Bogotá, Colombia's weekly Ciclovía. Details emerged on Friday in the Downtown Express:

On three Saturday mornings in August, the Department of Transportation will ban cars from nearly 5 miles of city streets to make way for cyclists, joggers and walkers. Starting at the beginning of Centre St. in Lower Manhattan, then moving north onto Lafayette St., Fourth Ave. and Park Ave., people will be able to travel all the way to 72nd St. and then to Central Park by walking down the middle of a street.

The streets will be closed to cars on August 9, 16 and 23 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. On 15 major east-west streets, like Canal, 14th St. and 42nd St., cars will be allowed to cross the car-free zone.

While much of the coverage in the Express and New York Sun focused on objections to "closing" or "shutting down" routes for cars, the virtues of opening streets for pedestrians and cyclists were not lost on everyone:

The chairman of the City Council's committee on transportation, John Liu, said a project like this has been discussed for several years, and would reinforce a trend, rather than posing an inconvenience.

"This is not likely to create a huge ripple in the fabric of Manhattan," he said. "It may even begin to wean people off dependence on personal automobiles."

Later today, DOT and Mayor Bloomberg are holding an official announcement and going public with the name and branding of the event. Cyclist celebs Lance Armstrong and David Byrne will be on-hand, and Streetsblog will have more as the story develops.

Speaking at Tuesday's Fit-City Conference, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced that a Ciclovía-style car-free street event is in the works for this summer. New York is not alone. According to a story published earlier this week on RedOrbit, several other American cities are considering the same thing:

Others are planning ciclovia, or "bike path," programs in which networks of streets are temporarily closed to driving and open for non-motorized play. Last summer El Paso, Texas, staged the first ciclovia in the United States, and now Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Portland, Ore., are working on similar events.

Details of the New York Ciclovía have yet to be revealed. Streetsblog will fill in the blanks as this story develops.

Photo: themikebot / Flickr 

Thanks to the announcement that Baltimore will have a Ciclovia, some in the livable streets movement already know that Baltimore is changing, that there is more to Charm City than is seen in crime dramas such as "The Wire" and "Homicide."  A recent visit showed me that the Ciclovia is only one of several bike improvements underway.

Baltimore City Councilman Bill Henry gives most of the credit to the new mayoral administration, which began early last year: "Between Mayor [Sheila] Dixon's 'Cleaner Greener' Campaign and the other sustainability efforts that she's worked on with the council, Baltimore's main streets are quickly becoming far more comfortable places for people in the community to walk and bike, not just drive."

Baltimore completed its Bike Master Plan in 2006 -- when Dixon was, in title, City Council president, but was basically acting mayor while Martin O'Malley campaigned for governor -- with the goal "to enhance and promote bicycling." The plan was divided into two parts, an "introductory" plan to be completed by 2010 and a more long-term plan to guide the city for decades to come.

The good news is that it looks like the short-term plan is well on its way to completion.

Since I last visited in September of 2007, a series of bike signs and street markings have been added throughout the city. One of the highlights is a network of bike lanes connecting the colleges and universities. In gaps where there are no bike lanes, sharrows and new signage remind drivers that there will likely be cyclists along the route.

New lanes were also painted to many of the city's attractions and local gathering places. For example, bike lanes have been added to and through "The Avenue" in historic Hampden, the setting and inspiration for the writings of John Waters. As recently seen in Sacramento, parking meters along The Avenue have been converted to free parking for bikes.

To promote the lanes connecting the colleges, the city tapped the Baltimore Collegetown Network, which has all 16 area colleges as members, to help promote the trails. Collegetown Network director Kristen Campbell credits Baltimore DOT for the lanes and notes how they will help Baltimore's colleges have better access to each other.  Campbell tells Streetsblog, "We worked with the city to cross promote between campuses to students to help them get out and about without using cars."

The signage along the bike routes does more than remind drivers that cyclists are present, it also points the way to bike trails and other attractions, similar to street markings one might see along a bike boulevard.

And the best news of all: it seems to be working. I lived in and around Baltimore for almost a decade, and I saw more people riding bikes in three days last week than I would see in entire months while I lived in the city. Nobody's going to confuse Baltimore with Portland, at least not yet, but it provides a great example of the immediate impacts that a good bike plan with good follow-through can have on the way people think about local transportation.

Photos: Damien Newton

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel with comrades Karla Quintero of Transportation Alternatives and Streetsblog editor Aaron Naparstek to Bogotá, Colombia to document some of the amazing advances going on in the livable streets movement there. We spent an entire Sunday, from 5am 'til nearly 5pm, riding bicycles around during Ciclovía, a weekly event in which over 70 miles of city streets are closed to traffic and opened to walking, biking, running, skating, recreating, picnicking, and talking with family, neighbors and strangers. Ciclovía was simply one of the most moving experiences I have had in my entire life (no pun intended).

I shot with no plan, not knowing much of what was coming up next while we rode our bikes, just trying to capture the event in the moment. We were aided tremendously by the indefatigable Gil Peñalosa, Executive Director of Walk and Bike for Life (yes, he is brother of Enrique, the former Bogotá mayor). Gil and his friendly support crew booked us an ambitious schedule and provided unparalleled access to people and places, allowing this mini film to be so much more than I had planned.

And dare I leave out our StreeJ Karla Q, who was just so great on the mic and shows she has some hot dance moves too. I think we came up with something very special and fun that will hopefully support and propel this movement forward in U.S. cities.

Read more of Clarence's thoughts on Ciclovía here.

Sunday was New York City's 26.2-mile block party, a once-a-year occasion for residents and visitors alike to actually enjoy the city streets.

A recently announced economic-impact study of the 2005 race calculated that the marathon--complete with participants and spectators from near and far, sponsors, charities, media, prize money, and ancillary events--pours $188M into the city's economy, making it by far the city's most lucrative one-day sporting event. The race has such tremendous cache that nearly 100,000 applicants applied to be among the field of 37,000, and two-thirds of them traveled in from outside the area. And don't forget the other key numbers: two million spectators and 300 million TV viewers around the world. Concentrating on the race's impact in financial terms, however, is to miss its tremendous environmental, public health, and community-building benefits.

What makes the race so special that marathoners want to "run New York" more than anywhere else, and are willing to shell out megabucks to do so? Ask them, and they'll tell you that it's the city itself. In the days leading up to the race, marathoners see New York through rose-colored glasses. Training run in Central Park? Lucky you, we just happen to have more roadways closed due to marathon setup. Ready to pick up your number at Javits Center? Take a special free bus from Midtown! Need something to do on Saturday? How about a closed-street jog from the U.N. across 42nd Street and up to Central Park!

And then on Sunday, the whole city gets in on the action. For this one wonderful day, the same highway-like streets that shoot cars through our neighborhoods at all hours, making sidewalk socializing unpleasant and isolating neighbors from one another, magically transform into public commons. Spectators spill off of the narrow sidewalks into the roads as the sea of humanity passes by.

If you watched the race in person, you surely talked to dozens of people squeezed around you, cheered for their friends, and snapped pictures of them with their runners. You and the other 2 million spectators were able to be there thanks to our city's dense housing and subways (which even the DOT urged us to use on this day).

Given the chance to enjoy the streets, New Yorkers and visitors party it up--enjoying brunches, bands, and bar fests and bringing rich life to streets that are otherwise primarily just vehicular thoroughfares. Marathoners look forward to the turn off of the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, for example, because the roar of the crowd is so intense, and spectators position themselves hours in advance to be at the front lines there. The rest of the year, however, you can usually count on one hand the number of people hanging out on that stretch of First Avenue.

And now, let's imagine for a minute if it weren't so rare to have people enjoying the streets. Enrique Peñalosa made the suggestion in his speech last month, as he envisioned a Bogotá-esque Ciclovía applied to major New York streets like Broadway and 42nd Street. Every Sunday and holiday in Bogotá, 120 kilometers of roads--nearly three marathons' worth--are opened for the use of people instead of cars. Participation is comparable to marathon spectatorship, at 1-2 million, and it represents an even greater percentage of Bogotá's population. These people are healthier and happier thanks to Ciclovía, and I bet that the economics work out just fine too.

If the marathon passed you by on Sunday, you must have enjoyed the spectacle: listening to the voices and footsteps, breathing in the fresh air, talking to total strangers. Wouldn't it be nice to do these things more often?

Photo: Shibula/Flickr

10:40 am:

Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia is the keynote speaker. In only one three-year term as Mayor, Penalosa revolutionized the transportation system and public spaces of his city of 7 million (Mayors only get one term in office in Bogota so he had to work fast). This was a big speech for Peñalosa. He even said that he was a little bit nervous about it. The crowd here is large -- 600 people -- and all of New York City's major transportation policy players are in the room.

Here's a bit of what Peñalosa said (insert mellifluous Colombian accent on your own):

"Today, we aren't just talking about transportation. What we are really talking about is: What kind of city do we want? There has to be a collective decision about how do we want to organize our lives. NYC along time ago, explicitly or implicitly decided that much of the city's space would be dedicated to cars. This was a decision. It's not some sort of natural law. Tomorrow we can change this. This is something that we have to decide. Transportation is not a technical matter. It is a political matter."

Applause line: "How about if we took away curbside parking and made sidewalks bigger? I speak in cities around the world and present New York City's sidewalks as the best, most lively sidewalks in the world. Still, they should be bigger. We did this in Bogota and it worked. New York City sidewalks, they could be much better."

"Manhattan could be one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world. Applause (Editors note: Wow on the applause. This is not a room full of TransAlt and Times Up members, folks. This is a pretty staid crowd). In Bogota we closed the city's streets to cars. I dream of Manhattan making a Broadway closure for pedestrians permanent. In Bogota we have the Sunday Ciclovía. We close the street on Sundays for bikes and joggers. I dream of this for Broadway for a few hours on Sundays."

"Bicycles are an amazing machine. If we are a democratic society then everyone has a right to safe mobility. But not everyone has access to a car. We have to think of a bike not as something that is cute or nice but a right. Safety for cyclists is a right. In a developing country cycling is a matter of democracy. Bike lanes are important, 20% for bike safety and 80% because it's a symbol that a citizen on a $25 bicycle is just as important as one in a $30,000 car." Applause.

"Bogota had 30,000 individual bus owners. So we created the TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit system. The stations are in the middle of the street. When the bus comes four doors open and the bus floor is level with the covered platform. One hundred people can get in and out of the bus in seconds. Two dedicated lanes are going each wa. The system is moving more passengers per km/hour than most transit systems in the world. (Peñalosa shows a slide of automobile traffic completely jammed up next to a freely flowing bus lane). We called it TransMilenio to make it sound sexy. Buses have a bad name. The system is moving more than 1.4 million passengers a day. To pay for it we established a gasoline surcharge and 25% of the gas taxes goes towards financing TransMilenio." (More applause. What? Is this room filled with Communists!?)

"Why not a BRT while we wait for the Second Avenue subway to built? Make a bus that goes much faster than cars! Now Manhattan has beautiful buses but they move to slow. In our old, historic downtown people said the roads are too narrow for buses. We said, "You are totally right. So, now cars can not go downtown anymore." This is done in lots of cities -- parts of town where only buses and bicycles can go.

"Forty-second Street as a pedestrian promenade. I think that would be beautiful. Applause.

"What are we working towards? What is our goal? A city where a child can go anywhere safely on a bicycle." (Standing Ovation).

10:00 am:

Six hundred people registered for the conference and this auditorium is packed. Scott Stringer just finished his talk. Guess what: Congestion pricing is an applause line now. Stringer: "Cities around the world have shown us what a transportation policy can be. London's congestion pricing.... Copenhagen's bike and bus lanes.... Solutions are within our grasp. We are now poised for that change. People will make adjustments if we give them a reason to do so. Congestion pricing and Bus Rapid Transit should be part of this discussion." BIG APPLAUSE

9:47 am:

DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall just finished her introductory speech. Thanks to a police investigation nixing subway service over the Manhattan Bridge I missed the first half of it. But I got here in time to hear Weinshall announce one piece of significant news: DOT has agreed to close the Times Square "bow tie" making way for big pedestrian space increases in Midtown's congested heart. The "bow tie" is the segment of roadway between 42nd and 47th Streets that allows traffic to merge between 7th Avenue and Broadway. After the closure, cars traveling down 7th Avenue will be forced to continue down Broadway. Vehicles traveling down 7th Avenue will have to continue down Broadway. This entire middle section of Times Square will be given over to pedestrians. Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance has long sought this change. It will make traffic flow less complicated and creates a lot more pedestrian space within Times Square. Only a year ago powerful people within DOT were stymying the idea of closing the Times Square bow-tie. Today DOT's Commissioner is touting the change. The Times, they are a-changing