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Posts tagged "ciclovia"

StreetFilms Monday, June 1, 2015
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London’s First Open Streets Is a Success!

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Five years ago, David Love experienced Summer Streets in NYC and was so captured by the warmth and excitement he decided to bring open streets to London.

The starter event was held in the borough of Southwark, on Great Suffolk Street, and featured music, dancing, food, art and, most important, activities for children and families to enjoy.

Open Streets London hopes to have frequent and bigger ciclovias in the future, and to continue to enlighten Londoners to the value of re-thinking their streets as places for more than automobiles.

StreetFilms Thursday, February 12, 2015
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America’s Love Affair With Great City Streets

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People crave interaction with other people. Given the choice, we'll gravitate to places where we can socialize or just be in the presence of our fellow humans.

It's not in our nature to spend hours each day isolated inside a car, but for much of the 20th century we shaped our streets and cities to make driving inescapable. In a few short decades we all but designed walking out of our lives. The good news is that by now, many cities have recognized that mistake and are working to fix it. We're falling in love with our streets again.

In this Streetfilm, four American mayors talk about why they're working to make their cities more walkable, bikeable, and sociable, and you'll hear from advocates and experts who are leading the movement to reclaim streets for people.

StreetFilms Thursday, January 2, 2014
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Janette Sadik-Khan’s Greatest Streetfilms Hits!

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Now that former NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has moved on to her next transportation chapter, Streetfilms thought the time was perfect to look back at some of her greatest moments with us.  We've always had a great relationship with Janette and during her six and half year reign and she's been in a few dozen Streetfilms.

Let's begin with the gem above we went deep in the archives to pull up: Sadik-Khan's one-minute speech before the crowd for the 2007 Transportation Alternatives Tour de Brooklyn. It was her first big public appearance for most cyclists, and listening to her visionary words I don't think you you'd find anyone involved in the livable streets back then who thought she would accomplish all she did.  I spliced in just a few of her many Streetfilms appearances over time to tease what was to come.

One of the biggest Streetfilms we had with Janette was a thorough sit down interview with Mark Gorton, our biggest donor and supporter of our work.  Even though she had only been at work for a little over a year, you can see the amount of swift change Sadik-Khan had already accomplished in our Q&A and walking tour.  I knew we'd hit a home run when a week after posting it, there were many fans mobbing her at a Railvolution conference saying they had watched every minute of the Streetfilm.

The video above was compiled after the new Times Square pedestrian spaces were created. My favorite moment is when I got to interview her sitting amongst the lawn chairs on the first day. That's about 3 1/2 minutes in if you don't want to watch it all. Read more...

StreetFilms Monday, November 11, 2013
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Five Great Streetfilms You May Have Missed! So Watch ‘Em Now!

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Since we have over 500 Streetfilms, invariably there are some I thought deserved far more viewers then they ultimately got. And some of these I really enjoyed working on or believed are important to see. Since I was recently asked which of my Streetfilms I wished had gotten more play, I decided to look over the past 7 years and pick out the Top Five that deserved to be seen some more. If you are new, you should check them all out.

1. Via RecreActiva: A Transformative Ciclovia for Guadalajara (Jan 2012):  This is the one I always cite as one I thought was gonna rack up mega views and never did.  In fact it only got about 2K in its first few months. I was stunned. Perhaps by the time we debuted it, people already knew enough about Ciclovias and just didn't need another.  This is one of the most magical open streets events in the world and the energy should be experienced.

2. Queens’ Corona Plaza: A Community Place Rises (August 2012): Maybe it's because this plaza is so near and dear to my heart only a few miles away from my home in Jackson Heights. But the wonderful people who have helped make this plaza happen against many odds deserve a lot of credit. It looks different from the plazas you'll find in Times Square and all over Manhattan. You should watch. Now.

3. GOP Mayor Greg Ballard: Making Bicycling a Priority in Indianapolis (June 2013):  This mayor is a huge believer in cycling. I see his personal tweets talking about it constantly. He has toured the country talking about the Indianapolis Cultural Trail (that video DID perform  amazingly). But Mayor Ballard is also a Republican. We need more in his party to talk like he does about transportation. This quick profile on him has been amazingly under viewed.

Read more...

StreetFilms Monday, August 12, 2013
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“NYC’s Summer Streets 2013: Citibikes Abound” & “T.A.’s We Demand our Right of Way Rally”

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I stopped by NYC's Summer Streets on Saturday to pick up an interview for another project, but once there was swept away but the thousands of people (easily the busiest one I have ever seen) and had to grab a little bit of video to share. Here it is:

The most amazing thing this time around?  The sheer numbers of folks using Citibikes to cruise up and down Park Avenue. I don't know if they set a daily record Saturday, but surely must have come close. There were long lines at the kiosks (one shot in the video).

Last week, Transportation Alternatives held a rally at City Hall to ask for more action from the city's leaders to do something about the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists still being killed by cars on our streets. And to put the batch of candidates for Mayor on notice that they'll be demanding more from them.  Here is a short video with soundbites from that presser.

StreetFilms Tuesday, June 25, 2013
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Oaklavia Opens Streets to Celebrate the Renewal of Lake Merritt

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Oakland celebrated improvements to Lake Merritt in style on June 9th, closing the streets ringing the city's historic centerpiece to cars--and opening them to cyclists, joggers, skaters, street performers and families. The 3.3-mile Ciclovía-style event coincided with the dedication of Lake Merritt Boulevard, a multimillion dollar project that has brought bike and pedestrian improvements to the lake's southern flank, along with a sparkling new amphitheater, a four-acre park, and a restored estuary connection to the San Francisco Bay.

The "Oaklavia" celebration was modeled after Bogota, Colombia's Ciclovia that have become a fixture in nearby San Francisco and Los Angeles; and while Oakland's was the first in three years, planners expect many more to come.

StreetFilms Thursday, November 8, 2012
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First-Ever Sunday Streets Event Transforms Downtown Berkeley

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Some 40,000 people flooded downtown Berkeley on a brilliantly sunny day in October, as the city became the latest in the San Francisco Bay Area to host a "Sunday Streets" open streets-style event.  Organizers closed 17 blocks of Berkeley's Shattuck Avenue to cars––and opened them to pretty much everything else. Cyclists pedaled, hula hoops turned, children frolicked, climbers scaled a mobile rock wall, and musicians inspired scores to break out in dance.  Families took leisurely strolls through streets transformed, while restaurants in North Berkeley's "gourmet ghetto" turned a brisk business.  Residents surveyed a demonstration "parklet" that could soon see Berkeley parking spaces transformed into temporary green spaces, and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition showcased plans for a major upgrade to the city's bicycle network at Hearst Avenue.

StreetFilms Wednesday, January 11, 2012
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Via RecreActiva: A Transformative Ciclovia for Guadalajara

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In Spanish/en Español: click here.

Watch this film in Spanish Guadalajara, Mexico is showing how amazingly transformative a ciclovia-style road closure can be for its citizens. In 7 years, their inaugural Sunday event Via RecreActiva has grown from just 7 miles with 35,000 participants to 41 miles with 400,000 users every Sunday. It goes from 8 am to 2 pm. It covers 6 municipalities. The diversity of activities features traditional ciclovia staples like aerobic classes and music, but also some new wrinkles including free haircuts for children and a city that clearly knows how to hula hoop!

Another unique aspect of this story is that one of the forces behind the success of the Via RecreActiva is a civil association called Guadalajara 2020, a group of primarily made of  business owners, real estate people and entrepreneurs who envision Guadalajara to be a healthier, greener and more humane city.

That mission includes bringing better transit to the city, making it safer to walk & bike and create equality and empowerment among its people. Perhaps it is best put by Guadalajara 2020's President, José Palacios Jiménez, who told us:

"...we would like to be able to remove the cars from the entire city. Because with all the information we manage to get, we are able to understand that the biggest problem of humanity are the cars."

Guadalajara does feature  public spaces on par with the greatest in the world, but also faces many extraordinary challenges with horrible traffic and unsafe pedestrian environments on nearly every street.  It's refreshing to see business folks not only speaking out and understanding the real solutions, but investing their funds to create an organization like Guadalajara 2020.

StreetFilms Monday, April 18, 2011
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CicLAvia 2011: Los Angelenos Take Back the Streets

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In a city that has defined itself by both cars and status symbols, CicLAvia is more than a seven and a half mile street party with a funny name, it's one of the many signs that Los Angeles is changing and one's status is not represented by the car that one owns.

But for the people that took to the streets on April 10, 2011, CicLAvia was about many other things.  Freedom, fun, fellowship and community were just some of the answers Rob Adams got when he asked Angelenos from all walks life what CicLAvia meant to them.  And what's a film without some cameo appearances?  Look for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and an even more famous cyclist as Adams pedals his way through another wonderful Southern Californian Sunday.

This is Adams' second film on CicLAvia.  His first, from exactly six months earlier on 10/10/10, can be viewed here.

StreetFilms Wednesday, July 7, 2010
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Thousands Play in Oakland’s Streets at the First-Ever ‘Oaklavia’

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On Sunday, June 27th, Downtown Oakland opened two miles of its streets to fun and activities—zumba dancing, circus arts, BMX bike competitions and performances from local musicians. Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) partnered with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Oaklandish, Oakland YMCA, Cycles of Change, SPOKES, and other civic organizations to create the East Bay's first “Sunday Streets” style event. Preparations are in the works for another Oaklavia in the coming months.

StreetFilms Monday, August 10, 2009
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NYC Summer Streets 2009

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On Saturday the New York City Department of Transportation and partners kicked off the second annual Summer Streets. A car-free zone was created from 7 AM to 1 PM starting at 72nd Street and traveled mainly along Park Ave to the Brooklyn Bridge. New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan estimated that double the number of people visited the 7 mile route compared to the first Summer Streets event last year. If you missed Summer Streets on Saturday, don't worry for you have two more chances to experience the car-free bliss on August 15th and 22nd.

StreetFilms Sunday, September 21, 2008
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Ciclovía (en español)

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Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de visitar a Bogotá, Colombia para documentar los cambios que se han realizado en la última década. Bogotá se ha transformado en una ciudad más habitable, un lugar en el mundo conocido por sus espacios públicos, su sistema de transporte progresivo y lo que esto le ofrece a sus residentes. Esta transformación fue lograda en parte por un evento que se llama la Ciclovía. Cada domingo para la Ciclovía, Bogotá cierra 70 millas de sus calles al tráfico automovilístico y se las abre a gente para que puedan conocer y disfrutar de Bogotá mientras caminan, montan en bicicleta, corren, patinan y se reúnen con amigos y familia sin tener que preocuparse del tráfico.

Para mí, ser parte de la Ciclovía realmente fue una experiencia inolvidable. Disfruté mucho de mi compañia ese día – que incluyó el infatigable Gil Peñalosa (¡Sí, el hermano del ex-alcalde de Bogotá!). Gil y su equipo nos prepararon un programa bien complete y nos proveyeron acceso sin comparación a gente y lugares que ayudó a que esta película pequeña fuera más de lo que me imaginé.

Cuando reflejo en este viaje me recuerdo de la felicidad de la gente. Cada corredor de la Ciclovía estuvo lleno de personas sonrientes . 1.8 millones de Colombianos participan cada domingo en la Ciclovía para liberarse del estrés, para mantenerse en buena salud y para conectarse con otros ciudadanos. Los Bogotanos se entusiasman mucho por la Ciclivía y hasta tienen el dicho “no tenemos playa pero tenemos Ciclovía”.

Estando aquí de nuevo en Nueva York, sigo soñando en un Nueva York donde los residents, jovenes y mayores, ricos y pobres, peatones y ciclistas, tendrían la oportunidad cada domingo de compartir y disfrutar de sus calles en la misma manera.

StreetFilms Monday, August 11, 2008
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Summer Streets 2008 (NYC)

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Feeling remarkably similar to Bogota's Ciclovia, the New York City Department of Transportation held its first Summer Streets event on Saturday by opening 7 miles of city streets to pedestrians and bike traffic only. From 7 AM to 1 PM, roads were car-free from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge with Park Avenue serving as the backbone of the route. Our Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is the real deal - she spent the entire day riding a bike around the course (and even said some nice things about me to my mom.)

We'll spare you the 200 adjectives we could list about how transformational it was, for it was beyond anything on the printed page. The general consensus was that the event succeeded beyond even the most hoped for expectations and would pass even the most pessimistic of measuring sticks. A page has been turned, clearly there is no doubt: the future will hold many more large scale street openings for pedestrians, cyclists, runners, children, dog walkers, dancers, and any other reasonable livable space use.

The swarms of people and happy faces made for much positive energy. Around noon, some blocks were getting very crowded, but there was a general courtesy that existed between pedestrians and cyclists. The city built it - and the people came. And they smiled a lot.

StreetFilms Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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Summer Streets PSA

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Here's the official 30 second PSA promo that Streetfilms edited to help promote Summer Streets! The event is very similar to other great worldwide street happenings we have brought you - from Ciclovia in Bogotá, Colombia to Sunday Parkways in Portland, Oregon.

In NYC on three consecutive Saturdays - August 9th, 16th, and 23rd - a 7 mile circuit starting on Park Avenue & 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge will be opened to cyclists, pedestrians and any kind of non-motorized activity you can think of. Forgive Streetfilms' prediction, but this is gonna be awesome! You'll be seeing this promo on WCBS and the NYC DOT website as well, where you can find a boatload of details. Volunteers are still needed to help run the event. If interested here are the deets.

StreetFilms Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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Portland’s Sunday Parkways

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Despite a very dreary and damp first half of the day, Portland's first Ciclovia-style street closure, Sunday Parkways, was a smashing success with countless thousands of city residents participating. It was like a giant community block party with walkers, bikers, joggers, bladers, families, and pets filling the 6 mile course.

There were plenty of fun activities in four northeast parks that were linked by the circuit, which was opened to bikes and pedestrian traffic only from 8 AM to 2 PM. For cities planning their own Ciclovias, here are some things I liked about Portland's event: knowledgeable volunteers, lots of fun chalk messages on the ground, easy to follow directions, lots of music & entertainment, and a huge number of bike stations for bike repair.

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