San Franciscans will be dancing in the streets - literally- after Mayor Gavin Newsom's office obtained the necessary permits this week to shut down 6 miles of thoroughfare during two Sundays this summer and turn the pavement into a party zone.
Starting in the Bayview, stretching past the Giants ballpark, running up the Embarcadero and ending in Chinatown, the northbound lanes of the sweeping route will be closed to cars and opened to pedestrians from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 31 - Labor Day weekend - and again two weeks later, on Sept. 14. The idea is for people to partake of physical activity in a wide, open space not usually available to city dwellers.
This event is inspired by the Ciclovia idea from Bogota.
A recent version of this was a huge success in Portland, Ore
Now New York City is planning it's own Ciclovia.
Good ideas spread quickly. And with $5 gas, most families can't afford long summer road trips and want to enjoy life closer to home these days.
For a city trying to retain its families, Ciclovia is a great program to adopt.
Cities looking for more information about Livable City projects should visit these websites.
SFGATE
3 comments:
yay!!!!
This looks like so much fun.
Look forward to bringing our smallest tykes and their wooden push bikes.
The car-huggers in SF will hate this. But once it happens everyone will see how life could be with fewer cars on the streets and they will love it.
It's a real family thing because it's in the morning and no drinking.
Latino families get street fairs (it's our culture) and will show up for sure.
I hope some minds are changed/opened when they witness a quieter and happier community, maybe for the first time.
Bogota is much safer since they started these things. It helps get people from different neighborhoods together. They become amigos.
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