CicLAvia
CicLAvia—Iconic Wilshire, 23 June 2013
StatusActive
GenreOpen streets
FrequencyBimonthly
Location(s)Los Angeles County
CountryUnited States
Years active13
InauguratedOctober 10, 2010 (2010-10-10)
Most recentJune 18, 2023 (2023-06-18)
Websitewww.ciclavia.org

CicLAvia (/ˌsiːkləˈviːə/) 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. “Based on the Ciclovía model from Bogotá, Colombia, it’s when organizers, city and county officials close a stretch of city streets to all motorized vehicles and open up the roadway for people to bike, skate, run, stroll, ride a scooter and just enjoy the neighborhood, close up. Nothing electric is allowed except for the following: E-bikes with pedal-assist—but other e-bikes must have the throttle powered off—and motorized wheelchairs.”[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] The event itself was inspired by Ciclovia, a similar, annual open streets event taking place in Bogota, Colombia since 1974.[5]

10-year anniversary

CicLAvia celebrated 10 years of Los Angeles events on October 10, 2021.[6] 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,[7] South Los Angeles, Culver City,[8] Thai Town and West Hollywood.[9] In 2013, CicLAvia—To the Sea ran 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Venice Beach.[10]

List of CicLAvia routes

Past[11] and future CicLAvia routes:

  1. 2015-03-22: The Valley
  2. 2015-05-31: Pasadena
  3. 2015-08-09: Culver City Meets Venice
  4. 2015-10-18: Heart of LA
  5. 2016-03-06: The Valley
  6. 2016-05-15: Southeast Cities
  7. 2016-08-14: Iconic Wilshire Boulevard
  8. 2016-10-16: Heart of LA
  9. 2017-03-27: Culver City Meets Venice
  10. 2017-06–11: Glendale Meets Atwater Village
  11. 2017-08-13: San Pedro Meets Wilmington
  12. 2017-10-08: Heart of LA
  13. 2017-12-10: Iconic Wilshire Boulevard
  14. 2018-04-22: Heart of the Foothills
  15. 2018-06-24: The Valley
  16. 2018-09-30: LA Phil 100 x CicLAvia: Celebrate LA!
  17. 2018-12-02: Heart of LA
  18. 2019-03-03: Culver City Meets Mar Vista + Palms
  19. 2019-04-28: Wilmington
  20. 2019-06-30: Mid City Meets Pico-Union
  21. 2019-08-18: Meet the Hollywoods
  22. 2019-10-06: Heart of LA
  23. 2019-12-09: The Valley
  24. 2020-02-23: South LA
  25. 2021-08-15: Wilmington
  26. 2021–10-10: Heart of LA
  27. 2021-12-05: South LA
  28. 2022-07-10: South LA
  29. 2022-08-21: Meet the Hollywoods
  30. 2022-10-09: Heart of LA
  31. 2022-12-04: SouthLA
  32. 2023-02-26: CicLAvia—The Valley[12]
  33. 2023-04-16: CicLAvia—Mid City meets Pico Union[12]
  34. 2023-05-21: CicLAmini—Watts[12]
  35. 2023-06-18: CicLAvia—South LA (Vermont Ave.)[12]
  36. 2023-08-20: CicLAvia—Koreatown meets Hollywood[12] (cancelled due to weather) [13]
  37. 2023-09-17: CicLAmini—North Hollywood[12]
  38. 2023-10-15: CicLAvia—Heart of LA
  39. 2023-12-3: CicLAvia—South LA (Leimert Park meets Historic South Central)
  40. 2024-02-25: CicLAvia—Melrose[14]

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.[15]

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.[16] Other organizations work with CicLAvia for specific events, like the LA Phil[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]

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.[21] 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.[22]

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.[23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Opening the Streets of Los Angeles to Showcase Its Culture". Bicycling.com. 28 June 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. ↑ Scauzillo, Steve (2022-08-20). "It's the 40th CicLAvia on Sunday, as East meets West in Hollywood". Daily News. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  3. ↑ "Bicyclists take to L.A. streets for latest CicLAvia festival". Los Angeles Times. 30 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "An estimated 100,000 turn out for L.A.'s inaugural CicLAvia event". Los Angeles Times. 11 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "The Angeleno Who Got CicLAvia Rolling Doesn't Just Produce Festivals; He Aims to Reshape L.A." Los Angeles Magazine. 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  6. ↑ May-Suzuki, Christian. "CicLAvia celebrates 10th anniversary with fundraiser | Culver City News". www.culvercitynews.org. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  7. ↑ "Thousands turn out for first-ever CicLAvia in Pasadena". Los Angeles Times. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "CicLAvia 'Culver City Meets Venice': A guide to the route, deals, activities and more". scpr.org. 8 August 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "Here's the route for CicLAvia's 'Meet the Hollywoods' event". la.curbed.com. 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Miles of Streets Closed for 'CicLAvia To the Sea'". cbslocal.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "CicLAvia Events". CicLAvia. Archived from the original on 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Save the Date 2023". CicLAvia. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  13. ↑ https://www.ciclavia.org/koreatown_meets_hollywood23
  14. ↑ "CicLAvia—Melrose". CicLAvia. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  15. ↑ "100,000 expected Sunday as CicLAvia rolls through L.A. to the sea". Los Angeles Times. 20 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "Metro Awards CicLAvia $2.35 Million for New Routes". ciclavia.org. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "L.A. Phil and CicLAvia join forces for Celebrate LA! Here's a guide to Sunday's citywide performances". Los Angeles Times. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "CicLAvia gets underway on Wilshire Boulevard". Los Angeles Times. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "Metro Moving Forward With $4 Million For 17 Open Streets". la.streetsblog.org. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ "Economic Impacts of CicLAvia: Study Finds Gains to Local Businesses". ucla.edu. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  22. ↑ Shu, Shi; Batteate, Christina; Cole, Brian; Froines, John; Zhu, Yifang (2016). "Air quality impacts of a CicLAvia event in Downtown Los Angeles, CA". Environmental Pollution. 208 (Pt A): 170–176. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.09.010. PMID 26493865. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  23. ↑ "Make the Oscars street closures permanent". la.curbed.com. 2 March 2018. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
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