CicLAvia

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CicLAvia
Iconic Wilshire CicLAvia.jpg
CicLAvia—Iconic Wilshire, 23 June 2013
StatusActive
GenreOpen streets
FrequencyBimonthly
Location(s)Los Angeles County
CountryUnited States
Years active11
InauguratedOctober 10, 2010 (2010-10-10)
Most recentFebruary 23, 2020 (2020-02-23)
Websitewww.ciclavia.org

CicLAvia is a nonprofit, car-free streets initiative in Los Angeles, California. The organization temporarily closes streets to motor vehicles to make them accessible to vendors and the public. It runs six times a year (once every two months) on new and repeating routes.[1] The event is completely free to the public.

Upwards of 100,000 people attend individual CicLAvia events,[1] and it’s estimated that, cumulatively, more than 1.6 million people have attended them since 2010.[2]

History[]

The First CicLAvia[]

The first CicLAvia event, on October 10, 2010 opened a stretch of streets from East Hollywood through downtown Los Angeles into Boyle Heights. Over 100,000 people turned out, exceeding organizers’ expectations.[3] The event itself was inspired by Ciclovia, a similar, annual open streets event taking place in Bogota, Colombia since 1974.[4]

10 Year Anniversary[]

CicLAvia celebrated 10 years of Los Angeles events on October 10, 2021.[5] The route included DTLA and surrounding neighborhoods. The birthday event celebrated over a decade of open streets in which people could bike, skate, run, walk, skateboard, and spectate. In the event's 10-year history, there have been 35 CicLAvias, more than 1.8 million participants (averaging 53,000 participants at each event), and nearly 226 miles of open streets in L.A. County.

Route History[]

Over 30 subsequent CicLAvia events have taken place in communities across Los Angeles County, usually covering a 5-10 mile stretch of city streets. Some of the locations used are Pasadena,[6] South Los Angeles, Culver City,[7] Thai Town and West Hollywood.[8] In 2013, CicLAvia—To the Sea ran 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Venice Beach.[9]

Event[]

Details[]

Local businesses often get involved with the event, offering deals and specials along the route to take advantage of the increase in activity. At “hubs” throughout each route, there are typically food trucks, climbing walls, arts and crafts, and other games.[10]

Partners[]

Los Angeles Metro provides funding to CicLAvia to support event planning, coordination, promotion, and other costs as part of a larger funding package for car-free streets.[11] Other organizations work with CicLAvia for specific events, like the LA Phil[12] and UCLA.

Impact[]

The goal of the nonprofit is to encourage public health, mass transit and vibrant use of public space through car-free street events.[13] In addition to fostering bicycling and walking, LA Metro staff report that CicLAvia events coincide with a 10% or greater increase in rail ridership and system-wide increases in sales of day passes.[14] RAND Corporation researchers evaluated the physical activity at a CicLAvia event, reporting that 45% of participants would have otherwise been sedentary, and recommending CicLAvia increase event frequency.[15]

A UCLA study found a reduction in local crime by 40%, as well as additional benefits for local businesses along the route, which see sales increase anywhere from 10% to 57% on event days.[16] A separate study measured the air quality impacts of a CicLAvia event in downtown Los Angeles, finding a substantial decrease in particulate matter and ultrafine particles along and near the route.[17]

The event has also renewed calls to turn the intersection and portion of Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Hollywood & Highland Center into a public plaza, similar to Times Square.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Opening the Streets of Los Angeles to Showcase Its Culture". Bicycling.com. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Bicyclists take to L.A. streets for latest CicLAvia festival". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  3. ^ "An estimated 100,000 turn out for L.A.'s inaugural CicLAvia event". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  4. ^ "The Angeleno Who Got CicLAvia Rolling Doesn't Just Produce Festivals; He Aims to Reshape L.A." lamag.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  5. ^ May-Suzuki, Christian. "CicLAvia celebrates 10th anniversary with fundraiser | Culver City News". www.culvercitynews.org. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  6. ^ "Thousands turn out for first-ever CicLAvia in Pasadena". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  7. ^ "CicLAvia 'Culver City Meets Venice': A guide to the route, deals, activities and more". scpr.org. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Here's the route for CicLAvia's 'Meet the Hollywoods' event". la.curbed.com. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Miles of Streets Closed for 'CicLAvia To the Sea'". cbslocal.com. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  10. ^ "100,000 expected Sunday as CicLAvia rolls through L.A. to the sea". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Metro Awards CicLAvia $2.35 Million for New Routes". ciclavia.org. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  12. ^ "L.A. Phil and CicLAvia join forces for Celebrate LA! Here's a guide to Sunday's citywide performances". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  13. ^ "CicLAvia gets underway on Wilshire Boulevard". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Metro Moving Forward With $4 Million For 17 Open Streets". la.streetsblog.org. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  15. ^ Cohen, D.; Han, B.; Derose, K. P.; Williamson, S.; Paley, A.; Batteate, C. (2016). "CicLAvia: Evaluation of participation, physical activity and cost of an open streets even in Los Angeles". Preventive Medicine. 90: 26–33. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.06.009. PMC 5083970. PMID 27317978.
  16. ^ "Economic Impacts of CicLAvia: Study Finds Gains to Local Businesses". ucla.edu. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Air quality impacts of a CicLAvia event in Downtown Los Angeles, CA". sciencedirect. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Make the Oscars street closures permanent". la.curbed.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.

External links[]

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