Alliance > Media center > People Powered Blog

Entries tagged: Live Well Colorado

Thanks to the advocates at BikeDenver, the Mile High City is now on the map.

Less than 10 months in the making, Viva Streets debuted in Denver this past Saturday and 7,500 residents took advantage of the city’s first Open Streets event.

Organized and hosted by BikeDenver and LiveWell Colorado (and funded, in part, by Bikes Belong), the four-hour festival closed down a two-mile stretch of 23rd Avenue to automobiles and invited citizens to experience their public space in creative and active ways.

“The turnout was amazing,” Piep VanHeuven, BikeDenver’s executive director, says.

“Four city councilmembers — almost a third of the council — attended the opening ceremonies and the bike parade that followed. People packed the route and many greeted and visited with friends and neighbors. More than 150 volunteers helped with activity zone offerings and monitoring the route as roving marshals. Local businesses got into the groove, too, offering everything from solar-power baked chocolate chip cookies to street side shish-ka-bob. My favorite was the ping-pong table that spontaneously appeared in the middle of the street.”

Not surprisingly, the successful event won wide coverage from local media. The Westword newspaper raved: “Bikes of all varieties ruled the road, but scooters, skateboards and rollerblades wheeled alongside. Pedestrians and runners weaved their way around. Twister, street hockey, basketball, hopscotch, jump rope, hula hoops and other games filled the shopping districts and parks. Music played from stages, impromptu drum circles, boomboxes on bikes and standing symphonic ensembles. Amenities were aplenty and sidewalk chalk scrawled into the streets.”

For VanHeuven, the take-away from the event was clear. “Denver was really ready for a ciclovia,” she says. “We had trouble getting people off the route and could easily have kept it going until 4 p.m. We’ve already had inquiries about bringing Viva Streets to other areas of Denver next year, as well as questions from City Park / Park Hill and Stapleton residents who want a street closure every month.”

Want to learn more about Viva Streets? Sign up for the Alliance’s upcoming Mutual Aid Call, “Open New Doors with Open Streets Events” and discuss the growing movement with VanHeuven and other Alliance leaders.