Living Car Free - Ciclovia: stop the cars in Los Angeles

I've heard of several European and South American cities closing parts of their cities to car traffic on Sunday.

But would it work in Los Angeles? Would it work in your town?

http://www.latimes.com/theguide/events-and-festivals/la-et-guidefeature5-2009nov05,0,730238.story



The idea, called a "ciclovia," isn't new. A phenomenon across Latin America, the ciclovia was born in the Colombian city of Bogota 30 years ago. Car-choked and polluted, Bogota's geography and sprawl very much mirrors that of Los Angeles. But every Sunday in Bogota, the city's major avenues are shut down to cars and hundreds of thousands of cyclists take to the streets. CicLAvia wants to replicate that success in Los Angeles - a city not exactly known for being bicycle-friendly.

I think it would have to work if they enforced it. Dunno how they could have enough people to do that though. There will always be someone who gets around it and drives. I would love to see that in this country.

"economic driver"
i think are the operative words in that article

There are a few places in Northwest DC that shut down for cars until noon on Sunday! I also found out that there are a few roads in the Philly area that shut down to cars for the weekend along one of the rivers.

I think this happens more often that we know in the US. That being said, I am sure it is along parks and the like where people are coming more to relax than to get chores and shopping out of the way.

We closed streets in Manhattan loads of times for the three dozen parades each years. Heck, tomorrow they are closing off downtown Manhattan for the Yankees so anything is possible.

I don't know about this making money because it's either a hit or miss for the stores and shops. We had something just like this last summer and some local business made money while others suffered. Regardless, it should be done anyway.

I've heard of several European and South American cities closing parts of their cities to car traffic on Sunday.

But would it work in Los Angeles? Would it work in your town?

I don't know why not. When I lived in L.A., many of the streets were almost deserted anyway on Sunday mornings, especially downtown.

I guess you could easily declare a car free zone in Des Moines on Sunday, too, since there's rarely much traffic downtown. Part of the experience however is to persuade bunches of cyclists and pedestrians to take to the streets... just to experience a downtown that was free from the noise and danger of cars.

You could fill the streets up with vendors like at the Farmer's market -- only bigger -- and have a real party.

It would also be nice if these shutdowns occurred regularly so that anyone could experience it.... any time of the year.

I don't know why not. When I lived in L.A., many of the streets were almost deserted anyway on Sunday mornings, especially downtown.

how long ago did you live here? about 8 years ago there was a *massive* population boom in the areas between the SGV and downtown los angeles. There's pretty heavy traffic every day at almost all hours.

this might work in the western regions of los angeles...right around the fairfax district, but I can't imagine it working anywhere else.

There is one day a year they shut down 30 or so miles of Lake Shore Drive in chicago, but I think cyclists/walkers have to pay to use it.