“A page has been turned, clearly there is no doubt: the future will hold many more large scale street openings…”
— Livable streets advocate and filmmaker Clarence Eckerson
On Saturday, New York City tested the Ciclovia waters with their first of three Summer Streets events planned for this month.
From the looks of a fantastic video and report by Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms (watch below), it was nothing short of a watershed (or as Mr. Eckerson called it, “transformational”) moment for New York City.
Parkways last June.
(Photos © J. Maus)
I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy while watching the video, not simply because it looked like an amazing time (and feelings from our event are still fresh in my mind), but also because New York City residents — like folks from most other cities that have planned similar events — have two more of them to look forward to.
City planners in the Big Apple took heed of advice from the Godfather of Ciclovias, Gil Penalosa, and decided from the start to plan three successive events. But unfortunatetly, here in Portland, where our Sunday Parkways was every bit as successful as Summer Streets, we unfortunately have to wait until next year before doing it again.
At first I held out hope that somehow we could schedule a few more this year and capitalize on the groundswell of momentum created back in June. But alas, that’s not to be.
As of now, the plan is to have four successive events in Portland — next summer.
on next year’s plans.
City of Portland staffers are already working on next year’s Sunday Parkways plans. Linda Ginenthal, in the Transportation Options division of PDOT, and the point person for the event, says they’re busy putting together sponsorship packets and searching for private partnerships to make next year’s event even better.
I met with her several weeks ago to look over the budget and to understand why more Sunday Parkways this year are not possible.
According to Ginenthal’s numbers, Sunday Parkways was a “revenue neutral” event. The total expense was $150,000 (not the widely reported $200,000) and the event brought in $108,000 (in the form of grants and donations). The difference in those two numbers was staff time that was already budgeted for the event.
It turns out that the mistake was planning for only one event from the start and the logistical realities of doing more this year cannot be overcome. Ginenthal says there’s simply not enough lead time to hire staff, notify neighborhoods, and get all the bureaucratic ducks in a row. Also hanging over Ginenthal’s head is a new wrinkle in the City’s Safe Routes to Schools contract that has added that task onto her already full plate.
So for now, we’ll have to suffice with our newly-carfree Last Thursday on Alberta, or live vicariously through coverage of upcoming events in New York City, Chicago, and elsewhere.
On that note, sit back and enjoy this great video from New York City’s Summer Streets event (and consider for a moment the national importance of having America’s largest and most well-known city succeed with an event like this):
I\’m so jealous! That looks like a blast. Makes me want to fly out for one of the next two with my new Bike Friday Tikit…
Maybe we should look at the example of Last Thursday at Alberta – that citizens can make this happen and then the city will be forced to follow the lead… (\’cause they clearly don\’t have the necessary leadership!)
looks like a great event!
here in portland, from my perspective, it appears as if this year has been the banner year for car free events. be sure to spread the word about Last Thursay on the 28th. carfree at last, carfree at last, thank god almighty, it is carfree at last!
I think the NY event looks amazing. I do not know about anyone else, but I felt like Portland\’s event, while very good, was kind of shoved into a random corner of the city, rather than really using the city. I kind of envisioned an event that would use the Park Blocks, Jamison Square, the Waterfront, etc.
That was really beautiful… so quiet, no fumes, everyone able to interact with each other instead of being insulated and isolated inside cars and buses.
Amazing.
It\’s tough to outdo The Big Apple, yall. They\’ve got the biggest and the best of everything. And if they decide they want lil ol\’ Stumptown\’s Bikey Crown, they\’ll take it…unless you\’ve got the guts to keep this the best bikey city in the country. We\’ve got a little head start – let\’s not let the big boys catch up!
So fitting that it was on Park Ave, reminds of this post from Clever Cycles, be sure to check it out:
Clever Cycles
&
New York City\’s Park Avenue was once… a park!
That reminds me of when you get a \’nor-easter\’ on the east coast. It is a winter storm that dumps a ton of snow on the cities. Just think if the pineapple express was all snow.
When a noreaster occurs, the cities are shut down and people walk, bike, sled and ski on the streets. Everyone is amazed how the city is transformed into a peaceable habitat.
New York also will have the High Line, an abandoned elevated railway that is turned into a walking park! What an elegant concept, a park in the trees:
Friends of the Highline
Fitting that part of the route was on Park Ave, as it used to be a park!
Clever cycles blog
New York City\’s Park Avenue was once… a park!
Previously, the only way for an east coast city to get a taste of car free life was for a \’noreaster\’ snow storm to hit.
NYC also has the abandoned elevated railway being converted into a park!
Friends of the Highline
Fear not. We had a great event and DO have two more to come. But if Portland gets out and announces four next year, that will mean NYC will have to do – say 2 months, which will mean maybe Chicago will announce an entire Summer, and then maybe another city will do both Saturday AND Sunday and on and on.
The competition will keep heating up and soon we will have car-free events year round!!! IN this way we can be envious of each other and keep the pressure building.
I am just happy. It was less than a year ago we went to Bogota to make our film. I think we would have been satisfied to just try it once, three was a nice surprise.
One thing I noted about the NYC event was that there were LOTS more pedestrians. I loved biking in Portland, and it\’s what we do, but if I were walking our Sunday Parkways I would have felt uncomfortable. I hope that a larger event will help, and I also hope that the organizers will do what they can to make it a bike AND walking, dancing, hula hooping, wheelchairing, etc. event.
Jessica,
Yes we did. Although there were places where cyclists def. dominated, I was expecting about 80-85% cyclists for the event, in line with probably what Portland\’s was. In fact, for NYC I\’d estimate it was about 60-65% cyclists, maybe less if you count up all those in the aerobics classes on side streets.
It was nice to see alot of diversity of use.
Also, I plan on walking part of next Saturday\’s event. Will report back. All in all, I thought cyclists were traveling at a reasonable pace most of the time, excepting for those 5% that were riding like idiots.
For pedestrians to dominate and for even larger masses to participate in Sunday Parkways, they\’ll have to move the event closer to the downtown core. While Sunday Parkways by all measures was a wonderful event – especially taking in account the rainy start – it still felt more like a North Portland residential neighborhood thing, than a major city event.
Taking Russell\’s suggestion one step further, why wouldn\’t it be possible for the city of Portland to close off the Park Blocks or Naito Parkway EVERY Sunday throughout July and August, or God forbids, on weekdays. That\’s the way it has been done in Paris, where they closed a 2 mile stretch of a major expressway along the Seine for a full month to create Paris Plage, an event that attracted more than 2 million people in it\’s first year (2002). Since then, it has become a Paris summer classic and they are now even talking about removing the expressway permanently and turn it into a pedestrian waterfront. Which really showcases the transformational potential of such events. Portland just needs to start dreaming a little bigger.
I second Kris S\’s (#12) statement.
\”why wouldn\’t it be possible for the city of Portland to close off the Park Blocks or Naito Parkway EVERY Sunday throughout July and August, or God forbids, on weekdays.\”
amen
I was in Portland for your Sunday Parkway, it was wonderful. Couldn\’t get to NYC, but here in SF we have 2 Sunday Streets coming up (we were cut back from 3 to 2) – Aug 31st and Sept 14. Come on down Portlanders – we took Amtrak up to your fair city for Towards CarFree Cities and had a great time. Come check out our Sunday Streets.
Philadelphia closes off a major street (equivalent to the Naito Parkway) to cars from April-October on Saturdays and Sundays, resulting in a 5-mile stretch of car free riding, running, etc. It\’s been a part of summer life for years. Washington does it too. I\’ve always found it strange that these big east coast cities can manage to do this, but Portland with its bike culture can\’t. Sunday Parkway was fun, but a regular (and central) road closure in Portland is what we really need.