Ciclavia Coming to LA

Having been a bicyclist the past year, having an "in" into the bicycle advocacy world, and having been interested in public space and the broader field of urban planning since undergrad, here's a cool event happening this Sunday, October 10 or 10/10/10 at 10 AM in Los Angeles: CicLAvia!




From the website:

Inspired by Ciclovía, the original, weekly street closure event in Bogotá, Colombia, CicLAvia opens LA streets to pedestrians and bicyclists, creating a temporary web of public space on which residents of Los Angeles can walk, bike, socialize, celebrate and learn more about their own city. On 10/10/10, 7.5 miles of roadways will temporarily close to car traffic and open for recreational purposes. From Boyle Heights to Downtown, MacArthur Park to East Hollywood, CicLAvia encourages Angelenos to not only make active use of their streets, but to rediscover the roadways and neighborhoods that too often go unnoticed in a car. Help open LA’s streets… take part in the first ever CicLAvia on 10/10/10.

BTW, also of note on their blog:

"Adonia Lugo is an anthropologist and PhD candidate at UC Irvine."

She is doing her project on bicycling advocacy and the concept of "body-machines." Talk to her, she can explain it. One of the things I talked to her about is how bicyclists feel more connection to a city than a driver. Bicyclists feel more "ownership" (not sure if that was her concept or mine) of a city than some person who zips past numerous landmarks, people, and things in the introverted, distancing pleasure box called their car.