Dancing in the (Open) Streets

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director

Photo courtesy of Lucy Gomez-Feliciano, Logan Square Neighborhood Association

Last weekend, community organizations opened up 8 miles of Chicago's beautiful boulevard system for bikers, runners, walkers, unicyclers and a few other 'ers' that I don't quite have the vocabulary for. And it was great.

As a resident of the west side of Chicago (Logan Square, to be specific), I've been all over the boulevards --  but this was my first time experiencing them so personally and without the distraction of cars whizzing by. I was able to experience Humboldt Park Boathouse, the Garfield Park Field House, Independence Square and Douglass Park which are all interconnected by an extensive network of (under-utilized) green space.

And when I saw thousands of people outside, playing games, biking, listening to music or just being physically active, I couldn't help but think that this is such a great intersection of health and community building. I mean, even the transportation management authority workers were smiling and laughing during this event.

This was a complex event with coordination needed between hundreds of volunteers and city services. And from my perspective, it was a huge success. To make this event happen every year (and maybe more than once a year?) we'll need to get the support of our city aldermen, our mayor, local businesses and community groups. Let's make sure this happens!

So thank you all around to the organizers of Open Streets. This was a great event that served our city so well. My only question... Do other US cities have similar events?

Photo courtesy of Lucy Gomez-Feliciano, Logan Square Neighborhood Association

Comments

[Adolfo Hernandez]

Open Streets was a great success this year. The inspiration for this event comes from Bogota, Colombia where every single Sunday of the year, 70 miles of roads are closed to cars and opened to people. They have close to one million people participate every time. Our vision for Chicago is that Open Streets becomes a regular event, extending into more neighborhoods and connecting more people in safe and physically active ways. Que viva Open Streets!

Adolfo Hernandez
Director of Advocacy
Active Transportation Alliance

[Lucy Gomez-Feliciano]

Mark, you asked if other cities do this... If you look at the Open Street website, http://www.activetrans.org/openstreets, there are links to other U.S. and international cities who also do this program.

[Mark]

Great! Thanks Lucy. Great information and great work. By the way, I saw you getting interviewed on the street that morning on Palmer Square. Great job.