Carfree Zone -- Coming Soon to a City Near You?

khallgeisler — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

On June 22, Portland, Oregon held its first Sunday Parkways. This event, modeled after a weekly shutdown of the streets in Bogota, Colombia, closed six miles of city streets to auto traffic and opened it up to bikers, walkers, skaters -- anyone self-propelled. New York City has announced plans to do the same for three days in August.

On my walk along Portland's closed streets, I found donuts and bratwurst for sale in a local's driveway, plus free bike tune-ups offered by a cycling collective. Three city parks held additional events, like a $5 helmet sale and fitting, an intro to tai chi, live music, and pick-up kickball games. All this despite a little drizzle in the morning -- though skies had cleared up by lunch time.

How can you get your community out of its cars and onto a bike seat? Here are some ideas gleaned from the Portland Sunday Bikeways:

Put your tax dollars to work. The EPA, the city commission, and the metro-area government were all sponsors of the Portland Sunday Parkways.

Great minds think alike. Partner up with local hospitals and community organizations to get ideas -- and volunteers. Neighborhood associations would be good allies, too.

It's the journey, not the destination. Portland organizers put together meeting places for bikers in several neighborhoods so people could ride through regular Sunday-morning traffic to the car-free route together. There were parades, a women's ride, and more.

But having a destination is important, too. While it's great to have cops stopping cars at major intersections so dozens of bikes can pass, it's nice to have someplace to ride to. Area parks hosted everything from yoga classes to Clif Bar booths, with lots of local cafes camped out, ready to replenish empty bellies after all that riding. There was food along the route, too, including hunks of bread and giant jars of peanut butter for a quick energy fix at the tune-up tent.

It doesn't have to be fancy. Portland is the country's most bikeable city, so we really did it up. New York will be closing swank Fifth Ave to traffic as part of its seven-mile car-free zone. But remember -- this about getting out of the SUV, moving under your own power (or the power of your crazy-cool electric wheelchair), and actually meeting your neighbors. And you don't need a Saks or a pilates demo to do that.

Photo by Doug Geisler.

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Carfree Zone -- Coming Soon to a City Near You?