Atlanta Streets Alive

Imagine a street full of people of all ages and backgrounds, walking, biking, creating and laughing, together. A street temporarily closed to cars, but open to people. Imagine residents safely enjoying their city, socializing with neighbors, and engaging in healthy activities. Imagine if all of this were free, with absolutely no barriers to participation. By the people, for the people. Sound good yet?

On May 23rd, we turned this dream into a reality by organizing the first-ever Atlanta Streets Alive. ASA takes a valuable public space – our city’s streets – and opens them up for people to play, walk, bike, breathe, and make their own.

Modeled on tremendously successful events from around the world, including Bogotá, Colombia’s Ciclovia; Paris, France’s Paris Plage; and San Francisco’s Sunday’s Streets, ASA is part bike tour, part block party, and a great time for getting active, supporting local businesses along the route, people watching, and enjoying our amazing city!

Building on the success of the May event, the next Atlanta Streets Alive is planned for Sunday, October 17 from 1-6PM. Visit AtlantaStreetsAlive.com for more information on the fall event, or find out how you can get involved now and make the October ASA even better than the first.

About the May 23 Pilot

Brought to our downtown streets by your Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, and Creative Loafing, with support from an amazing volunteer planning committee including the Centers for Disease Control, Central Atlanta Progress and the Downtown Improvement District, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia State's Institute of Public Health, and the Fixie Bicycle Company.

Background

Bicycle and pedestrian advocates struggle mightily in Atlanta to accomplish what sometimes seems like small change to observers in more bikable and walkable cities. We have just 30 miles of bicycle lanes, a huge and expensive backlog of broken sidewalks, and relatively low (but growing) rates of bicycle commuting and walking.

Atlanta Streets Alive is a new project in our city that seeks to shift that dynamic and replace it with a proactive community that comes together on a regular basis to participate in active transportation, physical activity, cultural and artistic endeavors, and to enjoy our neighborhoods and communities from a different perspective – from the street.

Brought to our downtown streets by your Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, and Creative Loafing, with support from an amazing volunteer planning committee including the Centers for Disease Control, Central Atlanta Progress and the Downtown Improvement District, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia State's Institute of Public Health, and the Fixie Bicycle Company.

Ciclovias have gained tremendous popularity around the world. Here's one video from the Bogota ciclovia, the longest-standing and most far-reaching ciclovia recreativa:

Our planning committee includes representatives from the City of Atlanta, City Council member Kwanza Hall’s chief of staff, the Centers for Disease Control, Central Atlanta Progress, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia State University’s Department of Public Health, the graduate student association of Georgia Tech’s City Planning program, and the Civic League.

Our kickoff event Sunday, May 23 is timed in order to capitalize on the presence of the Congress for New Urbanism 18 in Atlanta – we want to create a positive and lasting program that will help visitors and residents alike experience our city in a new light. The sustainability goals of the CNU create the perfect environment in which to engage Atlanta elected officials and staff in planning this program.

We are garnering enthusiastic support from the city. A key city council member is assisting the project financially and by committing time and staff resources to its planning – he is even registered to attend the Ciclovia Study Tour in Guadalajara, Mexico, with support from the CDC this month! In addition, our new City Council President is a strong proponent of the program, and the mayor has agreed to write a letter of support for our website.

One key element in creating an ongoing citywide ciclovia program, of course, is securing enough financial support to fund police to staff street closures. We have an ambitious but realistic fundraising plan combining foundation support, individual giving, and fundraising events. By this time next year we hope to demonstrate the need for this program to the city and have it adopted as a city sponsored event. This will allow the city to use police reserve hours to close the streets.

In order to achieve our goals effectively, we are building relationships with ciclovia organizers from across the United States and the world in order to learn from their experiences, and have established contacts in Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Bogota.

Modeled on tremendously successful events from around the world, including San Francisco’s Sunday’s Streets and Bogotá, Colombia's Ciclovia, Atlanta Streets Alive will create a safe, welcoming environment for people of all ages, physical fitness levels and degrees of confidence to bike, walk, and jog on city streets safely and respectfully.