L.A.'s First CicLAvia Brings Thousands to Car-Free Streets
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
A cyclist and his passenger enjoy a closed off 4th Street Viaduct at the start of CicLAvia.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A 7.5-mile ribbon of streets passing through Downtown was converted into a car-free playground on Sunday, attracting thousands of cyclists, skateboarders and pedestrians.
Bicycles dominated the scene along the CicLAvia route, which was in steady use from 10am until the last route closures were removed just before 4pm.
Unlike a marathon or group ride, participants travelled in both directions and at their own speed. That made the steady crowd deceptively difficult to judge. Businesses that blogdowntown spoke to along the route reported that their sales were unaffected by the lack of car traffic.
Backers, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have said that they hope to see the event become a regular occurrence in Los Angeles.
» Live Updates — Last: October 10, 2010
- 11:47AM Early reports from businesses along the CicLAvia route on Spring are that it's a normal day sales-wise. (ERIC)
- 11:46AM Lots of families out on their bikes today, both with little ones riding on their own and with little ones in trailers (ERIC)
- 10:47AM The mayor is getting on his bike at hollenbeck park, about to head toward downtown. (ERIC)
- 10:33AM Quite the variety of bikes out here on the bridge already. Recumbents, tandems, a recumbent tandem and cargo bikes (ERIC)
- 10:22AM CicLAvia traffic on the 4th street bridge has certainly been picking up over the last 20 minutes or so. Pretty steady now. (ERIC)
Eric Wang on October 10, 2010, at 03:01PM – #1
Photo 5 is great!
Guest on October 10, 2010, at 03:30PM – #2
fu@$#& Brilliant!!! Beautiful event, free of cars and noise, full of thousands - really packed later in the day, super crowds, not having to cower from buses, dodge cars, slow for lights,.... wow. Great energy, excellent vibe,.... hopefully can help LaBonge, and other forward thinking leaders make an impact on policy - like creating more bike lanes! And other bike friendly policies and facilities all around LA. To CicLAvia!, and all who went, thank yoU!!
Brian Tompkins on October 10, 2010, at 04:23PM – #3
Awesome event! Made downtown extra friendly and fun this morning. Let's do it more often.
Barry P on October 10, 2010, at 05:45PM – #4
I loved walking down the middle of downtown's magestic avenues amidst all the bikes and skates. The city felt alive. My vote is once a week.
Guest on October 10, 2010, at 06:06PM – #5
next time i'm breaking out my rollerskates! whoohoo!
Guest on October 10, 2010, at 06:48PM – #6
Syrup Desserts was busier than usual...lots of bikers walking in for treats.
Qathryn Brehm on October 10, 2010, at 08:04PM – #7
A fun no pressure ride on a beautiful day in Los Angeles.
Guest on October 10, 2010, at 08:27PM – #8
I tried taking a dump in the street but a police officer waved me back to the alley. I thought we have freedom
Eric Metz (@lastreetcar) on October 10, 2010, at 09:08PM – #9
It was amazing!!
Karin Liljegren on October 11, 2010, at 07:28AM – #10
Great event! We had so much fun! (it also made me realize the crazy noise pollution the buses bring to my loft everyday)
Does anyone know how many people participated? I don't think there was a way to really count, but it seemed huge.
Matthew Jackson Cooper on October 11, 2010, at 08:21AM – #11
I walked the route up 7th Street all the way from Downtown to MacArthur Park. Great to see all the riders, rollers and other walkers.
DavidAC on October 11, 2010, at 08:43AM – #12
What a great day! Lets do it every week, and lets expand the route, or add new routes.. (Wilshire would be nice)!
What a super fun event! This kind of thing can change the city!
Ginny Brideau (@ginnycase) on October 11, 2010, at 08:47AM – #13
It's gonna happen next sunday too...RIGHT!?!?!?!?!?
Phillip on October 11, 2010, at 09:21AM – #14
Yesterday had the excitement of a beautiful, but short-lived summer day in the Midwest. Pick any perfect Sunday with no chance of rain. You don’t know what you’re going to do, but you know you just have to get outside and do it. Those electrifying days are seldom seen in Los Angeles.
Rene on October 11, 2010, at 09:44AM – #15
Loved it! Didn't have a bike so took the dog out for an extended walk. So awesome people watching and seeing all different kinds of people in downtown. The gathering points garnered some interesting crowds: a great band at The Rowan with freestyling MCs, LA Cafe's crowd, a picnic at 7th & Broadway in the intersection, 7-11's diverse patrons grabbing big gulps and plenty of people exiting Rite Aid with ice cream. Even the bicycles themselves had character: bright neon tire tubes, kiddie trailers, doggie trailers, baskets, whistles, bells, tandems and custom made bikes. Wish we could do this more often!
Guest on October 11, 2010, at 09:49AM – #16
Good point Karin, The noise from buses is pervasive and obnoxious, and noxious. Sunday was a welcome respite that provided quiet, - a marked contrast to the ugliness of bus noise.
Alisa Rivera on October 11, 2010, at 11:18AM – #17
The LA Times is estimating the turnout at 100K, which is incredible. I hope this can happen more than once a year. Karin, I was also struck by how quiet it was despite all the people.
Valerie Watson on October 11, 2010, at 12:21PM – #18
I biked my little heart out! A truly remarkable day. I was filled with pride. Downtown Los Angeles looked beautiful and felt so peaceful. Still can't wipe the smile off my face. See you at the next cicLAvia!
Barry P on October 11, 2010, at 03:12PM – #19
Any estimate on what this cost to do? Law/traffic enforcement, etc?
Maxx Gillman on October 11, 2010, at 03:34PM – #20
I didn't expect to really care about this, but stepping into a peaceful Spring St was surreal. I got caught up and didn't want it to end.
i hope this becomes a regular thing.
Ankur on October 11, 2010, at 03:59PM – #21
Well, I know they raised 8k before the event happend.
What if each of the 100,000 people donated 5 bucks? That could go a long way!!
(yeah, wishful thinking for sure.
DavidAC on October 11, 2010, at 04:20PM – #22
A few collection jars along the way would cover the costs. If Bogota can afford to open 80km of roads every Sunday, then Los Angeles can afford this too. And the costs per CicLAvia go down the more we do it...
Keep in mind that operating cars on these roads has costs too - and how much money was saved from the health, environmental and social benefits?
If we do this every month, or every week, then this can change L.A.. And it can show the world that L.A. is more than just 'car culture'...
Russell Brown on October 11, 2010, at 07:22PM – #23
For a first time event, it was great and very free form.Wished there had been more "events" but the organizers and City were very low key about what was allowed, if anything on the streets themselves.
I did hear comments that some of the bicycle drivers were not very disciplined and required observation. (Probably cause so few have real opportunities to ride in the City). Practice will improve this.
Many cities do these events as regular occurrences. New York City has closed Broadway to traffic every day.
Brooklyn, Queens and other boroughs regularly have streets open without the cars for special events and weekend. The NY group Transportation Alternatives is a great resource of their events. http://www.transalt.org/
Rio de Janiero is another amazing city that every Sunday closes the busy ocean front street down except for pedestrians, joggers and cyclists. Both Avenida Atlantica at Copacabana Beach and Avenida Viera Souto in Impanema Beach close and become the most gorgeous people watching anywhere in the world.
These events celebrate urban life and build community. They make us realize the trade offs we make every day to accommodate cars and buses.
Yesterday was a sort of Park(ing) Day for pedestrians and cyclists.
Bring it on, once a month, at least and let's take back the neighborhoods.
Andy Wong on October 11, 2010, at 08:33PM – #24
A perfectly wonderful day in Los Angeles. Let's think about how we can take to the streets more and enjoy them in between our CicLAvias on days when the streets are not closed off to traffic. As heavenly as it was on 10-10-10, we shouldn't wait for those days to get out and ride, walk and enjoy our city.
Eric R - Thanks for the picture of me, my friend Harry and my pet passenger Berkeley in the Bullitt cargo bike, Eric. It was funny -- as I rode by you and you snapped photos, my friend -- also named Eric -- pointed out to me it was you taking photos.
Guest on October 11, 2010, at 10:14PM – #25
does anyone know where the pictures of the free photo booth are posted? thanks!
David Klappholz on October 12, 2010, at 05:03AM – #26
"Yesterday had the excitement of a beautiful, but short-lived summer day in the Midwest. Pick any perfect Sunday with no chance of rain. You don’t know what you’re going to do, but you know you just have to get outside and do it. Those electrifying days are seldom seen in Los Angeles."
I wouldn't gratuitously say anything bad about the Midwest, but what exactly are you saying the Midwest has over LA? Its year-round weather? A few hundred miles of well-used hiking trails through some of the most beautiful hills in the world? A beautiful coastline? At least as many cultural events as Chicago, which, by the way, I love?...and more cultural events by a factor of at least 10 than any other city in the US except NY.More great Art Deco architecture than any other US city except for NY? More great mid-century modern architecture than any other city in the world? A wider variety of restaurants?
Graciela on October 12, 2010, at 10:11AM – #27
I had seen rumors that the event cost 200k. Not sure how accurate that is.
But I did find info on a story on KPCC about how the event was funded: "This first CicLAvia, while it had the support of Mayor Villaraigosa, did not take any money from Los Angeles’ general fund. Instead, the event was funded by contributions from the Annenberg Foundation, California Endowment, Metabolic Studios, Boeing, and other foundations, companies, and even individuals who contributed more than $8000 through Kickstarter,"
I know a lot of people have been complaining about how LA doesn't have the money for an event like this. I don't know if any funding CicLAvia got was put towards paying cops but like someone else here said, there is a cost to the city if we didn't have CicLAvia and cars just drove those streets. Plus, you need the police for an event like this. They helped direct car traffic at several intersections so people could still get around on Sunday. If they didn't do it, then people would complain that they were trapped in their houses without the ability to bypass the route. Police show up to protests and anywhere public safety has to be maintained.
Simon Ha on October 12, 2010, at 03:11PM – #28
Next time, it'd be great if the route was on Wilshire Blvd., extending from Downtown to Santa Monica - bikeway to the sea!
It was a great event for my 2 year old and other children of Downtown LA Parents Group (we're on facebook) who came out to enjoy the car free street with some chalk and tricycles.
If there was one thing I'd do differently when the next one happens, I'd create a pocket of area where small children can run around and play without worrying about getting hit by bicycles. And I'd like to see pockets of passive areas along the route where peoples can stop and rest or dine.
I hope it happens again soon.
John Ciacci on October 12, 2010, at 07:25PM – #29
Wilshire is too bumpy AND too many pothole - better to follow the Olympic like the critical Mass route possibly changing to Olympic to San Vicente would be interesting.
GOOGLE BIKE MAP
Guest on October 13, 2010, at 12:02PM – #30
It was an awesome event. I hope the city realizes how important trees are to Los Angeles. Some streets really need more shade trees. It sure makes is easier and cooler on a hot day. I saw the mayor riding and I hope he took notice. Street trees are not just for rich areas. Can't wait for the next Ciclavia!
Guest on October 13, 2010, at 05:49PM – #31
Throughout the course, what I enjoyed most was the live band/comedy show and free Massages by H2o Massage Pros on 5th and Spring. That was an awesome combination of professionals. I Can't wait the next CycLAvia...
Guest on October 13, 2010, at 05:49PM – #32
Throughout the course, what I enjoyed most was the live band/comedy show and free Massages by H2o Massage Pros on 5th and Spring. That was an awesome combination of professionals. I Can't wait the next CycLAvia...