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CicLAvia
CicLAvia—Iconic Wilshire, 23 June 2013
StatusActive
GenreOpen streets
FrequencyBimonthly
Location(s)Los Angeles County
CountryUnited States
Years active14
InauguratedOctober 10, 2010 (2010-10-10)
Most recentAugust 18, 2024 (2024-08-18)
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 occurs several times a year 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

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The First CicLAvia

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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

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CicLAvia celebrated 10 years of Los Angeles events on October 10, 2021.[6] The route included Downtown Los Angeles 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

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Over 50 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 most commonly used locations used are Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, South Los Angeles, Culver City,[7] Thai Town, Hollywood, West Hollywood,[8] and Wilmington, while previous locations also include Pasadena,[9] Glendale, and the Southeast Cities. The longest event to date was the April 2013 CicLAvia—To the Sea, which ran 15 miles from Downtown Los Angeles to Venice Beach.[10]

The popularity of CicLAvia has also led to other open streets events in Los Angeles County. A San Gabriel Valley-focused event called 626 Golden Streets (renamed to Active Streets in 2024) launched in 2017 and has held seven events since it began.[11] The City of Long Beach has held an open streets event called Beach Streets since 2015,[12] with the most recent event taking place in 2023.[13] And from 2016-2019, the City of Santa Monica held an annual open streets event called COAST.[14]

List of CicLAvia routes

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Past[15] and future CicLAvia routes:

  1. December 10, 2010: Heart of LA (first event)
  2. April 10, 2011: Heart of LA
  3. October 9, 2011: Heart of LA
  4. April 15, 2012: Heart of LA
  5. October 7, 2012: Heart of LA
  6. 2013-04-21: To the Sea
  7. 2013-06-23: Iconic Wilshire Blvd
  8. 2013-10-06: Heart of LA
  9. 2014-04-06: Iconic Wilshire Blvd
  10. 2014-10-05: Heart of LA
  11. 2014-12-07: South LA
  12. 2015-03-22: The Valley
  13. 2015-05-31: Pasadena
  14. 2015-08-09: Culver City Meets Venice
  15. 2015-10-18: Heart of LA
  16. 2016-03-06: The Valley
  17. 2016-05-15: Southeast Cities
  18. 2016-08-14: Iconic Wilshire Boulevard
  19. 2016-10-16: Heart of LA
  20. 2017-03-27: Culver City Meets Venice
  21. 2017-06–11: Glendale Meets Atwater Village
  22. 2017-08-13: San Pedro Meets Wilmington
  23. 2017-10-08: Heart of LA
  24. 2017-12-10: Iconic Wilshire Boulevard
  25. 2018-04-22: Heart of the Foothills
  26. 2018-06-24: The Valley
  27. 2018-09-30: LA Phil 100 x CicLAvia: Celebrate LA!
  28. 2018-12-02: Heart of LA
  29. 2019-03-03: Culver City Meets Mar Vista + Palms
  30. 2019-04-28: Wilmington
  31. 2019-06-30: Mid City Meets Pico-Union
  32. 2019-08-18: Meet the Hollywoods
  33. 2019-10-06: Heart of LA
  34. 2019-12-09: The Valley
  35. 2020-02-23: South LA
  36. 2021-08-15: Wilmington
  37. 2021-10-10: Heart of LA
  38. 2021-12-05: South LA
  39. 2022-07-10: South LA
  40. 2022-08-21: Meet the Hollywoods
  41. 2022-10-09: Heart of LA
  42. 2022-12-04: South LA
  43. 2023-02-26: The Valley[16]
  44. 2023-04-16: Mid City meets Pico-Union[16]
  45. 2023-05-21: CicLAmini—Watts[16]
  46. 2023-06-18: South LA—Vermont Ave.[16]
  47. 2023-08-20: Koreatown meets Hollywood[16] (cancelled due to Hurricane Hilary) [17]
  48. 2023-09-17: CicLAmini—North Hollywood[16]
  49. 2023-10-15: Heart of LA
  50. 2023-12-03: South LA—Leimert Park meets Historic South Central
  51. 2024-02-25: Melrose[18]
  52. 2024-04-21: Venice Boulevard[19]
  53. 2024-05-19: CicLAmini—Wilmington[19]
  54. 2024-06-23: South LA[19]
  55. 2024-08-18: Meet the Hollywoods[19]
  56. 2024-09-15: CicLAmini—Lincoln Heights[19]
  57. 2024-10-13: Heart of LA[19]
  58. 2024-12-08: The Valley—Sherman Way[19]

Event

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Details

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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.[20]

Partners

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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.[21] Other organizations work with CicLAvia for specific events, like the LA Phil[22] and UCLA.

Impact

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The goal of the nonprofit is to encourage public health, mass transit and vibrant use of public space through car-free street events.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]

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.[26] 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.[27]

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.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "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.
  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. ^ "About - Active Streets". Active Streets. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  12. ^ "Past Events". The City of Long Beach. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  13. ^ "About Us". The City of Long Beach. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  14. ^ "COAST Santa Monica's Open Streets Event". CARS. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  15. ^ "CicLAvia Events". CicLAvia. Archived from the original on 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Save the Date 2023". CicLAvia. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  17. ^ "Koreatown Meets Hollywood 23".
  18. ^ "CicLAvia—Melrose". CicLAvia. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g "Save the Date 2024". CicLAvia. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "Metro Awards CicLAvia $2.35 Million for New Routes". ciclavia.org. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ "CicLAvia gets underway on Wilshire Boulevard". Los Angeles Times. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ "Economic Impacts of CicLAvia: Study Finds Gains to Local Businesses". ucla.edu. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ "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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