Portland Sunday Parkways June 22, 2008
Portland, Oregon
What is Sunday Parkways?
Sunday Parkways is a transportation and active living event patterned after Ciclovias , which first became successful in South America. Every Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. the city of Bogota, Colombia closes 70 miles of major roads so that people can bike, roller blade, run and stroll without traffic. The "Ciclovia" has become a major community activity with 1.5 million people enjoying the traffic-free boulevards on an average weekend. Another term for this concept is "Sunday Parkways". Many US cities are talking about Sunday Parkways as a way to regularly open up a network of streets to encourage healthy activity, such as walking and cycling. No US city has implemented an on-going Sunday Parkways event yet. (Scroll down to see videos of similar events around the globe.)
The Portland Event
Portland’s vision is to hold a Sunday Parkways event on Sunday, June 22, 2008. The event would follow the international Toward Carfree Cities conference which Portland will host June 16 – 20. The proposed route would close six miles of local streets in north Portland from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., linking parks and great places to walk and ride bicycles. The circular route would create opportunities for Portlanders to get out and be active right in their own neighborhood. Participants would walk, bike, run, stroll, and roller blade along the route to activities in the parks as well as to nearby shops and businesses in the vicinity.
Why?
Sunday Parkways is a perfect match for Portland. It highlights Portland as a walkable and bikeable city. Cities around the country have come to expect Portland to lead with smart ideas and innovation. North Portland is an ideal place to start connecting neighborhoods by bringing people together with healthy activities. This part of the city has several parks but little space where families can walk, bike, and spend time together in a traffic-free environment. Health, transportation, recreation, community and safety interests all benefit from a strong partnership implementing Sunday Parkways.
Official Website: http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=egbad
Added by multimodal on February 15, 2008
Comments
multimodal
Volunteer for Sunday Parkways on June 22nd
Sunday Parkways is coming to Portland June 22nd, from 8 am to 2 pm. Join us and thousands of other Portlanders as we walk, bike, skateboard, run, and roll on six miles of traffic-free streets in North Portland. The city is launching this one-time event this summer, in hopes that everyone will love it so much that we can do it once a month next summer.
There will be music, activities (such as hula hooping, yoga, and a kids' circus), and food at Arbor Lodge Park, Peninsula Park, Unthank Park and Kaiser Town Hall.
Help us make this event successful by volunteering or leading a fun activity. Volunteers are needed to monitor intersections and assist with activities in parks. You will get a Sunday Parkways t-shirt and snacks. There are a couple of different shift times so you can volunteer and still be part of the event.
Go http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=46103
and click on the "Get Involved" link on the right.