[Updated 6/23, 10:10am: I’ve updated this story with video coverage. Watch it below.]
(Photos © J. Maus)
Portland’s first-ever experiment with a large-scale carfree event was a rousing success.
Sunday Parkways transformed the streets and parks of North Portland into a six-mile community block party. Thousands of Portlanders (PDOT estimates 15,000) of all shapes, sizes and colors pedaled, skated, and walked among their neighbors and friends while taking in live music, performances, and a myriad of activities.
Arbor Lodge Park.
Early this morning, as drizzle and cool winds blew, I could not have foreseen the perfect day that was to come. Not only did the sun and blue skies eventually break through, but masses of people turned out. I could not believe how many families and children I saw riding bikes and in the parks. It was simply a magnificent sight to behold.
A few hours into the event, I bumped into PDOT’s Linda Ginenthal. Ginenthal is the one who spearheaded the year-long planning effort to bring this event to Portland. I don’t remember what we said, but I remember a long hug and a lot of smiling.
I did not stop smiling from about 8:05 this morning until I left Peninsula Park at around 2:30.
I spoke with an elderly woman zooming down Holman Street on her electric wheelchair. She was giggling like a child, telling me how great it was to be outside and not have to worry about cars.
I saw three and four year-old kids riding tiny tricycles with reckless abandon down the middle of the road.
A scene from Peninsula Park.
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Tye-dye brings people together.
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I had a nice chat with Captain Larry O’Dea and Lieutenant Bryan Parman of the Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division (they were both riding bikes!).
At Arbor Lodge Park, I watched a 60-plus year-old man, with his helmet still on, laughing as he tried to keep a hula-hoop going.
The Sprockettes entertained one of their largest, youngest, and most appreciative crowds I’ve seen in the three-plus years I’ve been watching them.
Homeowners along the route did their part too. There were bake sales, lemonade stands, garage sales, I even saw one entrepreneurial kid selling his old toys for 5 cents a piece. One woman, near Arbor Lodge Park, had a sign hanging in the tree in her front yard. It read, “Howdy neighbors! Stop for a cool drink.” When I passed she was chatting with a young couple pushing a stroller.
Bikes towing kids and adults were everywhere. Overlook neighborhood resident Olivia Rebanal had a special passenger on the back of her Xtracycle — her mom Ophelia who was visiting from San Francisco. Greg Raisman from Southeast Portland made a new, wheelchair-bound friend and gave her a tow for about two miles.
“It was a highlight of the year for me.”
— SE Portland resident Greg Raisman
Raisman just bought a Yuba Mundo cargo bike (after reading about it here) and said towing his new friend was, “So much fun. It brought huge smiles to her, me, and everyone nearby. Maybe more cargo bikes means more community… It was a highlight of the year for me.”
I also ran into executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Leah Shahum. She said she hopes San Franscisco’s Sunday Streets event (three carfree days in August) is just as popular. “If it’s as successful as this is,” she said, “I’m sure it will become permanent… thanks for laying the groundwork.”
neighborhood.
Dave Harris, who lives in the Piedmont neighborhood, was rolling a laid-back cruiser bike with “Big Daddy” emblazoned on the side. I met him at the clogged entrance to the Bryant Street Pedestrian bridge and he said, “This is just fabulous. Look at all these people here… all creeds and colors, it shows that Portlanders get together, when we want to get together. I love Portland!”
Timo Forsberg works with the city’s Office of Transportation. I caught up with him just as the event was winding down. He said that everybody who came up to his information table asked, “when’s the next one going to be?”, and his answer was, “Give Sam Adams or another city commissioner a call and ask them.”
Today was an historic day in Portland, and it wasn’t about being anti-car or making a statement about the price of oil or any other “cause”. Today was about bringing people together, building community in our public spaces, and turning exercise and recreation into a free and accessible celebration of our city.
So, when’s the next one?
Watch my Sunday Parkways video below:
— See all the photos in my Sunday Parkways gallery
— More discussion and photos in the Portland Bike Forums.
— Other media coverage: KOIN-TV, Oregonian, KATU-TV, The San Francisco Bay Guardian.
— Did you take part in Sunday Parkways today? If so, please share your experiences, observations, and feedback with us below…
Thanks for reading.
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It was the best ever!! I couldn\’t stop grinning! And it was slow going, but in a good way, because of so many people, so many families, and so many new and old friends to stop and talk to. I was so proud of Linda and the Options crew, the hundreds of helpful volunteers, and of Portland for coming out in droves.
Please do write council and tell them that this event was too good to be a one-time-only affair:
mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us
dsaltzman@ci.portland.or.us
samadams@ci.portland.or.us
Nick@ci.portland.or.us
rleonard@ci.portland.or.us
If you would have jumped in a time machine this afternoon and zoomed back to 1984, and told me, a recent Jefferson graduate, that this neighborhood, the neighborhood in which I am now raising my two young boys, would be host to such a positive outpouring of community goodwill and healthy spirit, I would done damage to the universal timeline laughing so hard.
I\’m so glad so many folks joined together on such a beautiful day for such a cool event.
My folks in Omaha can\’t comprehend it when I tell them about stuff like this.
First, we take Manhattan. And then the flyovers will fall like so many dominoes.
Great article, Jonathan. Congrats to the public employees, volunteers, participants and others who made the event such a success!
We rode in from Southwest Portland in the rain this morning. We stopped for coffee and to let the rain cloud pass, then rode on to the event. It was truly a great time. My wife said it was the most fun she\’s had on the bike all year. I\’d have to agree. Hope this get\’s expanded to the same scale as, say, Bogota.
It was so cool! We\’re down to one bike, so my wife rode the bike, with the hound in the milk crate on the back, while I ran. We came over from Vancouver and had a fabulous time. We\’d really been considering moving to Portland (only lived in the region for 6 months), and this really solidified it for us. I definitely want to see this become a regular occurrence. Every weekend would be ideal, but I\’d settle for monthly–certainly it will become more frequent than annually.
Even doing some midwest MS rides years ago, I\’d never before seen so many bikes in my life–I unfortunately missed the Obama event. It was a truly inspiring sight.
If I were absolutely forced to come up with something bad to say about the event, the worst thing I could come up with would have been the wait for crepes (they were worth it though). The second worst: it ended too early!
I saw a lot of volunteers keeping tallies. Any word on the participation numbers?
Thank you Jessica for those emails! Everyone who enjoyed this event should take quick minute to write. I did!
And yes, the event was awesome. Lets plan the next one!
This was the coolest event I have ever been to or participated in, in my life! My girlfriend, my parents and I. 10 total miles of bike riding with a day full of memories that will last a lifetime. All the cyclists, joggers, walkers, volunteers I was, and still am, a bit awe struck by it all. I hope and pray that we see this again.
By the way, any word on how many people showed up? I\’ll throw down my guess at 20,000. I know that getting an accurate count would be almost impossible but it\’s fun to talk about.
Thanks to all those that made this event happen!
THANK YOU THANK YOU
This was such an incredible and wonderful time. Everyone was smiling, and I saw so many amazing people. This is how we can connect with neighbors and local residents. People were cooperative, conversations developed, and people got outside.
I rode people around on the tandem all day and met so many wonderful folks.
Hi Aaron… check out this photo of you and Mr. Paul Tay from Oklahoma..
Awesome!
Numbers? Had to be 15,000-20,000 or more. And you\’re spot on to highlight the diversity. This was a cross-section of Portland, not the \”bikey\” crowd. For me it was the face of the \”orange\” crowd – those 60% of Portlanders who don\’t yet bike for transportation, but are interested.
Now, how to best carry forward the feeling of community, fun and safety from today to parlay it into more everyday folks (vs. self-identified \’cyclists\’) biking to and fro for some of their trips during the week? After today it\’s easier to see that we will get there.
This was such an awesome event – I\’m so glad I went! It\’s too bad Lars Larson wasn\’t there to see all the \”evil\” people having so much fun.
Thanks to all the volunteers, and to the Portland Police for managing traffic at the intersections, and to all the people of every color, creed, and quadrant who showed up, walked, pedalled and had fun.
Oh, and thanks to the Sprockettes for a delightful show!
This was the greatest bike event ever, and I think I saw half the people I know.
What a sweet time my family had in N. Portland today. This was like a giant block party with thousands of my neighbors. Unfortunately, because of the children we drove over from NE, but maybe we can do the *next one* closer to my house…
(Reposting from the old thread at Jonathan\’s suggestion)
A great event! Congratulations to the organizers, and way to go Portland!
I was a little worried when I saw the morning drizzle, but I should have known better. When I got there about 11:30 (around the tail end of the cloudy weather), the biking was in full swing, and looked like it had been for a while.
Lots of families, lots of kids, but not so slow or crowded that the adults couldn\’t move along.
Like others, I liked all the cop-thanking that was going on.
Unfortunately I only got from Overlook Park to Peninsula Park. Met some friends (walkers with a stroller) at Peninsula, and that\’s all she wrote. But we had a really nice time listening to the music, looking at the booths, and wandering around the fountain. Which reminds me – am I the only one who had no idea what a beautiful park Peninsula is? What a gem.
Thank you thank you thank you for the good coffee available where I started, at Kaiser Town Hall.
One suggestion: I got to the launching point (Citybikes) for the SE to Parkways ride too late. I figured I could catch up with the ride, but I didn\’t know which way they went. A Citybikes employee gave me a flyer with the Parkways route (which helped), but it didn\’t tell the best way to get to the Parkways. For that I relied on my bike map. So my suggestion is: how about next time around printing up neighborhood-specific \”how best to get to Parkways\” fliers. These would specify per-neighborhood start points – in this case it would be Citybikes – and give a very specific route from those start points. Obviously you couldn\’t get too granular on this with regards to the number of neighborhoods you cover, but maybe a flier per city quadrant or something.
One other suggestion: some nice baked goods to go with the coffee.
Overall, I had no complaints, and I didn\’t even find that pedestrian bridge to be too big a deal. People seemed to move along on it, and it\’s likely that many (like me) learned of its existence for the first time today. Also, it probably made for good advertising to the freeway drivers zipping below us.
I was stuck working today at the restruant and thought that i would miss all the fun. My bosses thought that the street closures and food venders would draw away most of the business, and to be honest, my scepticism wasn\’t too far behind theirs. Sundays are normally really slow and we all were surprised when byclist group after bycyclist group showed up to eat. This event brought nonstop business to our restruant that we normally would\’nt see. Now if only they weren\’t such picky eaters…
I live very near the Failing Street pedestrian bridge on Michigan street and I\’ve never seen anything like this event. It was wonderful and like Jonathan I was smiling all day long. A previous poster appreciated people thanking the police and I have to second that. What a great way to improve communication and relations with the police and have them be involved with ground level community. They were out of their cars, smiling and having fun like everyone else. They gave my little boy a \”Junior Crime Fighter\” badge! Anyway, lots of fun and I can\’t wait for more.
Hey everyone, there is a photo pool on Flickr for Sunday Parkways. All you flickr photographers, please join the group and post your photos there. I saw a lot of cameras out there today! Let\’s share the film! ….er uh… share the memory card!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sundayparkways/
FANTASTIC! This was an awesome event. The kids and I did quite a bit of the route. We can\’t wait for the next one!
Great time! This needs to be once a week, possibly in a cycle of different locations, i.e. first Sunday of month NoPo, second at SE, third at NW, last Sunday in SW, or similar. Once it\’s routine, people will plan accordingly and not feel inconvenienced.
And it\’s about people, not bikes, as Aaron said. Everybody in a car is welcome to participate. They just have to get out of their car for it. They\’ll see how liberating that simple act can be.
Here\’s to hoping future Parkways will not even require traffic cops, because no cars will want to cross the route. Everybody will be out of their cars, at the event.
As others have said, best bike and community event ever! I love seeing so many new people, bikes and residential areas of this wonderful city.
We left our bikes at home and walked the whole route, finishing before the sun broke through. Plenty of friendly people milling about, and I enjoyed seeing folks I met at the CarFree conference. Only a few \”Lance\” riders trying to set a world record. Would love to see it evolve into a monthly event with rotating locations, and self-funding to boot. Think big. Let our elected officials know what you think.
That was the best. Willamette blvd should be car free all the time! And we should move towards making every 10th street car free except for the residents. So many tensions between cars and bikes would go away I think.And more people would get out and walk or ride since they felt safer. That was so obvious today. We should do them every Sunday, as in Bogota. Thanks Linda for making this happen!
I was one of the many volunteer intersection monitors, and must say the sea of people that passed by in the second half was simply staggering. So much so, in fact, that I think that for the sequel there should be some serious consideration to using wider thoroughfares — not to mention roads in better condition. The Kerby and Bryant stretches were pretty rough going in parts…
Overall, aside from a couple of curmudgeonly drivers, and one unfortunate bike collision (no one was hurt), the spirits were high and sense of community palpable. The highlight for me was meeting a lovely older couple in Peninsula Park about to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary (!), sharing stories of what the park used to be like in the 1940s.
Here\’s hoping this becomes a regular occurrence!
We had a great time and my six year old was thrilled to ride the entire route on her own bike. I would add my voice to those thanking the organizers and volunteers – you did an awesome job. We would also love to see this become a more frequent and regular event.
Things I would change – make it longer. Instead of trying to do N one week, SE the next, etc. make it more miles crossing into different parts of town. It was very crowded at times and if you could have spread the people out over a greater area it would have been even better.
The roads were narrow at times in large part due to cars parked on them. Could the streets be no parking zones for the event?
A lot of people were buying food and drinks from vendors which was great. I hope they got a nice little economic hit off of it. There needed to be more vendors to really accommodate the crowds though. Some ran out of food early which I think was due in large part to the crowds being much bigger than they expected.
Overall a great event and we cannot wait for the next one!
I was a \”counter\” for the event. Every hour, for ten minutes, I tallied the number of people that passed by my corner at Concord & Bryant. My shift ran from 11:00am until 2:00pm, and my count for 10 minutes ran well over 300 each hour. Groups of 20 and 30 cyclists were passing in each direction pretty constantly.
I also talked to some of the neighbors in the area. One of them said she\’d take this every Sunday–better than speeding auto traffic in a residential neighborhood. Most were pretty positive.
This was a fantastic event, and I\’ve never seen more smiles! I\’d love to see it every Sunday, too–I think it may be too much to ask for a single residential neighborhood. But there\’s clearly enough support and energy to get something like this going on a rotating basis!
My favorite comment of the day was from an young girl, may 9 years old, riding with her sister and parents. \”I can\’t believe we\’re riding on the street!\”
and I agree with the Graham (#13). Peninsula Park is so amazing and beautiful. Truly a classic neighborhood park.
THANK YOU to all the organizers, volunteers, police officers, and everyone else who made this event successful. What a great day. My whole family – with tag-a-long and trailer – joined me, and since driving to it seemed silly, we rode in from outer SE. Ended up being 22 miles RT – the longest ever for a couple of them, but all smiles. Really appreciated being able to tour NoPo and see some connections I didn\’t know existed. I second the sentiments that this should happen AT LEAST once/month, and different parts of PDX would be great too.
Another observation. For the most part the route was residential streets. I would have loved to see business districts like Mississippi or Rosa Parks Blvd. included as part of the route rather than just crossings. Maybe the increased business some experienced yesterday would help overcome any reluctance they may have had? I realize it makes organizing more difficult, but as Portland becomes less car-centric I think this should be a goal. I also wanted to thank the drivers who patiently waited for us. I was looking and I didn\’t see a single one who looked or acted put out or upset. I did find myself wondering, in the crowds of cyclist, how those NOT on bikes felt – were they ever uncomfortable with all the bikes whizzing by? I\’d like to hear from more of them.
Lets all do it again ASAP.
What a well-thought-out and fabulous event! I loved the early, drizzly part (fewer people, more biking) as much as the later part, when it was more slow going, but had so much heart. The volunteers were wonderful, as were the police (so cheery as they directed traffic). Biking through all the beautiful neighborhoods was such a treat–the roses were in full bloom everywhere. Gorgeous! At the parks, there were great booths and displays–I got a helmet for $5! (have only had my bike a week and didn\’t have a helmet yet–how perfect!). I also got to practice putting my bike on the front of a parked Tri-Met bus, something I\’ve wanted to do so I can get downtown easily. What a great idea to let people do a dry run first! Thanks to all who organized and/or volunteeered at this event–I cannot say enough good about it!
P.S. Someone mentioned wanting baked goods–there were several good bake sales organized by MoveOn.org at Peninsula Park.
The whole thing turned out even better than I hoped for. I worked the Failing Street I-5 overcrossing as a volunteer in the morning. At first, with the drizzle and breeze, I wondered how many would come out. But we started getting a steady stream almost from the beginning and the crowds just continued to build and build. The kids on either side of the street had dueling lemonade stands, which was a crack-up.
After my shift, I ran the course with a Foot Traffic group then met my wife, daughter, and mother-in-law (who all rode over from our house in NE) in Peninsula Park. I never thought I\’d see my mother-in-law watching a Sprockettes performance!
More than once I heard passers-by say \”I wish it was like this everyday.\” I don\’t know about every day, but we need to have these frequently. Imagine the size of the crowds next time after everyone who was there yesterday tells all their friends about it!
Awesome event! Had a great time. While I\’m not a racer, I usually am trying to set a new world record time on my commute. This was great to sit up and enjoy for a day. More please!
I agree with the commenter talking about crepes. We need more crepe chefs! I heard they ran out of food! Other than that, everything ran great. Kudos to the organizers, volunteers, and officers on the route!
My pictures are in the Flickr pool! http://www.flickr.com/groups/sundayparkways/
–Bill
Hey Jonathan! Nice front page smile there in the Oregonian today!
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/ftp/Monday-A1.pdf
Now that we know what a true Bike Boulevard is, we need create a network of BBs that is 24/7 from St. Johns to Lents from Parkrose to West Portland.
I don\’t think 40,000 more motor vehicles per day across a big wide new I-5 bridge over Columbia River is going to make this job easier…more motor vehicles from a less bike friendly sector and less money for bike facilities.
This was awesome! We definitely owe a big thanks to all the volunteers especially. And write City Hall – tell them we want more!!
Front Page of the Oregonian Today:
http://flickr.com/photos/npgreenway/2603799795/in/pool-sundayparkways
This event was awe-inspiring to behold! I was at Arbor Lodge Park, letting seniors try out one of PDOT\’s three wheeled bikes from their Senior Cycle programme.
The number of people streaming past us out on the street was phenomenal. Bicyclists, joggers, rollerskaters, skateboarders, wheelchairs… you name it, it went past at some point. I was really, really happy to see so many kids out biking, and clearly having a total & utter blast with their friends or parents.
My one criticism (which isn\’t really a criticism at all) – 8am – perhaps a little early to start this event in Portland, where we are all a bunch of total Sunday slackers. And of course, 2pm – a little early to finish it. The one complaint I heard over & over again from everyone I spoke with, was that it finished waaaaay too early.
mmann (#25), I was on foot and only once was I uncomfortable: A guy obviously trying to set the course record flew right by without any warning. He was fast enough to generate a little breeze and close enough I got a whiff of his stink. Had I accidentally rolled my ankle while running and shifted just slightly left, we would have collided. There was plenty of space at that section, so I felt it was uncalled for.
One obnoxious guy out of thousands is still significantly better than auto traffic.
I can\’t praise all the people who worked so hard on this enough! What a FUN day. I brought along two friends who were visiting from San Francisco on bikes and they were excited to hear more about this being replicated there. I loved all the entrepreneurial enterprises along the route and the route itself. Even though I live in North Portland I learned some new ways to get around (I had never even been on the Failing st. bridge, and finally figured out the best ways to access the Bryant St. bridge).
Incredible event. What a zoo! We sat and ate a hot dog at the BTA booth and watched the parade go by. So many beautiful bikes and huge smiles. I\’ve never seen a crowd where even the recumbent riders blend in 🙂
Huge thanks to all the volunteers, organizers, PPD and everyone who came out. Things like this actually make me proud of my country.
Ditto Jessica #1. It is really important to let the city council know how great this event was. Get those emails, calls and letters to the city council.
KOIN is having a poll on \”Do you favor more car-free zone days in sections of Portland?\” It\’s currently running majority NO. Unscientific or not, get over there and vote. http://www.koin.com
Congrats to Portland and all the volunteers – my family and I had a great time…once we got the kids motivated to leave the house…I think they did not understand the potential of this event until they saw all the bike riders and walkers. (It took us 3 minutes to turn onto the course while the marshalls waited for a gap in the bike traffic halted the new \’sidestreet traffic\’ on Denver!!) They had a blast after that.
I ran into Leah Shahum (SF BIKE) too – I told her that San Francisco had some bike shoes to fill when they try their event on lter in the summer.
KPTV also has a poll.
http://www.kptv.com/community/16684578/detail.html
That event made me proud to be a Portlander. I was grinning. Everyone around me was smiling. There was a giddiness in the air.
It was like when you were a kid and you went someplace new and there were all these other kids and you just started playing cuz that\’s all you needed to do. That\’s what yesterday was like.
HUGE kudos to Linda and the whole PDOT crew and Mary from the CCC. You all worked so hard for so long and it was better than I even imagined.
And KGW…
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_061708_news_carfree_experiment_north_portland.11487f63.html
While we were sitting around waiting for the Sprockettes to start, I could overhear everyone around me asking who or what the Sprockettes are. Now there\’s a first.
This was a huge success…I keep wanting to use the word \’historic\’ to describe it. It touched so many people who normally would never turn out for something like this. For health reasons, for commmunity building, for environmental concerns–we\’ve got to keep this going.
Just an FYI — I\’ve uploaded my Sunday Parkways video. You can watch it embedded in the story above, or watch it on YouTube.
How do you like them apples, Mr. Lars Larson!
My favorite sight: an elderly gentleman pedaling his weiner dogs around in a Burly wagon. Lucky pups!
PDOT treated its volunteers like queens and kings. Thanks to everyone who kept us stocked with sidewalk chalk, Cliff Bars and coffee!
Has anyone ever loved Portland more?
Aweeeeeesome!
So good to see what CAN be.
This really is a community building event.
That was such a blast. We were on our tandem, and it was good practice negotiating that much bike traffic. So many smiles! One older woman walking said, \”I didn\’t know there were this many bikes in the world!\” It was like an endless, two-way parade. We did the loop twice, which took us nearly 4 hours. Thanks for the link to the KGW story; I saw it last night and thought we were in it, and yes! We were on a black tandem with yellow & red Hawaiian jerseys. More please!
You couldn\’t have said it better by calling this a community building event. I didn\’t see much of the route from being in the park all day, but we had people from across the street and across the county taking part in a gigantic neighborhood block party.
Everywhere I looked people just connected. Whether you were neighbors, friends, or merely sharing the path together.
My story of the day? Running into someone I hadn\’t seen in nearly 20 years, only to learn we\’re practically neighbors! 🙂
Thanks to the sponsors and the volunteers!
We did the loop with the trailer early on to show support, even though it was misty. REALLY FUN to get a park tour, and have the peanut butter stop!
However when the sun came out, the kids weren\’t done, so we then took the trike & training wheel bike back toward Peninsula. Thanks for extending my 2 and 4 year old so much courtesy when it was so crowded on Bryant and Kerby. Of course, they wanted the smooth part in the middle of the street. The kids haven\’t had so much fun ringing their bike bells and horns ever.
To everyone involved with PDOT / Transportation Options, PPB, and ALL the volunteers: Great job! This was a total success on all levels. Sunday Parkways is the kind of event that illustrates how important the social / active element is in people\’s lives and that streets, as public places, can be used once and a while for other [better] purposes than what we are accustomed to. I look forward to this being a regular occurrence here in Portland and in other U.S. cities.