Open Streets on The Great Highway
The Bronx River Parkway, CicLAvia and Muévete en Bici
Muévete en Bici, a higher use for a vía rápida on Sunday morning. Mixcoac, CDMX.
One of the great joys of my life has been taking in the city and countryside on two wheels. Somewhere amid my family photos is a color snap of me on a bike at nine or ten, dressed as a toreador, grinning from ear to ear.
These days, if it's Sunday in Mexico City, you can find me enjoying Muévete en Bici, a weekly open streets event that makes thousands, if not millions, of Chilangos and visitors to the city, smile.
Enjoying Muévete en Bici, the weekly linear park, in CDMX.
Staying cool at Muévete en Bici, Bellas Artes, CDMX.
The Bronx River Parkway
A defining memory from my youth was riding a bike on the Bronx River Parkway on Sunday mornings in the summer. Whoever shifted the gears of local government to make the temporary transformation of the Parkway into a biker's paradise on summer Sundays deserves a ciclovía named in their honor.
Bicycle Sunday on the Bronx River Parkway.
Thanks to the enthusiasm of my lifelong friend Alan Lewis, from time to time, I still get to bike the Parkway. Thank you Alan!
Biking the NYC Century with Alan Lewis.
On Sunday mornings in the summer, Alan can be found plying the Parkway on his trusty two-wheeled steed. That is, when he is not hiking the Hudson Valley or writing a brief defending the rule of law.
A Lifelong Love of Cycling
My early love of biking has stayed with me to this day. After conquering the Parkway as a kid, I spent several of my teen summers traveling the world by bike with Stuart Sackman, another lifelong friend.
Bless our helicopter parents who later let these two 17-year-olds drive a 30 foot truck from Boston to Los Angeles. Summer, 1978.
We were so much older then, we're younger than that now. Riding Citi Bike with Stuart Sackman along the Hudson River in upper Manhattan.
CicLAvia
Decades later, cycling along the beach in Los Angeles, I often thought back to speeding down a hill on the Bronx River Parkway as a kid and discovering the world on two wheels with Stuart.
And then one day my prayers for a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly Los Angeles were answered.
A group of dedicated planners and open streets enthusiasts brought to LA, CicLAvia, a transformational linear event that captured Angelenos pent up demand for bike and pedestrian access to the region's endless rivers of asphalt.
At the risk of leaving out too many of the people who made this happen, here's a shout out to Aaron Paley, Jonathan Parfrey, Allison Manos, Stephen Villavaso, Joe Linton, Sandra Hamlat, Bobby Gadda, Adonia Lugo and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Participating in that first CicLAvia in 2010 in East Hollywood and other parts of the Heart of LA was like finding love. As a beneficiary of what these open streets enthusiasts created, I wrote enthusiastically about CicLAvia in a series of articles beginning in 2010 in HuffPost.
In the fifteen or so years I lived in LA, I witnessed first-hand the ways CicLAvia brings together residents of a siloed region for fun and health promoting activities. And CicLAvia shared the joy, bringing the event to different parts of the sprawling city. This approach gave Angelenos from all over LA the opportunity to get out and explore neighborhoods they may have once thought uninteresting or even unsafe to visit. Open streets events are a proven healthy, fun and economic development trifecta for cities as diverse as Bogotá, CDMX, Panamá, LA and New York.
Together with thousands of happy Angelenos at CicLAvia. San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles.
CicLAvia also brought murals that captured the neighborhood's character to Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley, 2016.
With Bob Rollins, a great friend from a great city, at CicLAvia North Hollywood/Studio City. Biking again with Don Roberto recently along The Great Highway (now a park!) and in Lincoln and Golden Gate Parks in San Francisco was terrific. ¡Gracias Don Roberto!
At CicLAvia in Boyle Heights with another great friend and fellow Angeleno David Shenassa.
Experiencing open streets events including Muévete en Bici in CDMX, Ciclovía de Bogotá, Summer Streets in New York, Recreativa de Panamá and CicLAvia in Los Angeles, has immeasurably enriched my life and exposed me to things I might never have experienced as a walker in the city.
Enjoying Recreativa de Panamá. In a gross understatement, the way open streets events have spread from Bogotá across Latin America is inspiring.
Where it all began. Ciclovía de Bogotá.
Like public transportation and parks, open streets enhance the lives of city residents. Here's to more open streets events, ciclovías, and linear parks on Sunday mornings along the vías rápidas.
Yours in transit,
Joel
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