Streetsblog San Francisco

Sunday Streets continues to be a huge success in San Francisco, with last month's event bringing out at least 25,000 cyclists, skaters and amblers. Because of the large size of the crowds, organizers have added Harrison Street from 16th to 26th Streets to the route, which provided ample room for learning to ride a bicycle or taking a leisurely spin. 

Unlike previous months, Mayor Gavin Newsom even chimed in this week with accolades, urging people to get out and enjoy streets opened up to people and closed to car traffic.

“Sunday Streets has become a great way for families from all over the Bay Area to enjoy our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Newsom. “It has also become a national model for creating a safe, fun, car-free place for people to get out and get active.”

This Sunday's event will also see a special hockey demonstration by the San Jose Sharks at Harrison St. between 18th and 19th Streets, and a free noontime circus performance by Circus Bella in the O’Connell High School lot Harrison at 20th.

For program information, go to sundystreetssf.com.

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On Sunday, June 27th, downtown Oakland opened two miles of its streets to fun and activities—zumba dancing, circus arts, BMX bike competitions and performances from local musicians. Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) partnered with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Oaklandish, Oakland YMCA, Cycles of Change, and other civic organizations to create the East Bay's first “Sunday Streets” style event. Preparations are in the works for another Oaklavia in the near future. 

Oaklavia transformed a swath of downtown Oakland to a vibrant streetscape Sunday, in its first ever ciclovia-style event, with café seating in the streets, yoga classes, dancers, musicians, food carts and games. More than two thirds of the estimated 3,000 - 4,000 people who turned out to experience the joy of car-free streets were people who rode their bicycles. 

WalkOaklandBikeOakland (WOBO), the organizer, called the event a success, and said businesses and elected leaders were thrilled, and the community response was overwhelmingly positive.

"My favorite quote was a woman who said 'This is a better Oakland,'" said Kassie Rohrbach, WOBO's Executive Director. "WOBO is making Oakland a better place to walk and bike and that quote really captured exactly what we hoped folks would feel from the day."

One of the most popular spots on the route was Washington Street between 8th and 9th in Old Oakland. A parklet, hosted by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition (EBBC), featured astroturf, outdoor seating for nearby restaurants and shady benches. A fooz ball table got continuous play despite the fact that it wasn't level. Musicians, gardeners, and bicycle tailors gravitated to the block, creating a lively street scene.

Restaurants that chose to open did a brisk business. Café 817 on Washington Street in Old Oakland is normally closed on Sunday. "We didn't expect anything," Lillian, one of the owners, said as she prepared salads behind the counter. "It's been great." She would be happy to see the event repeated and "we will be more ready for it next time."

And then there were the kids, so many kids. Little ones came in trailers, bike seats, bakfiets and on trail-a-bikes. Others scooted down the street on skuuts, tricycles, and scooters. Small people spun big hula hoops. The parking lot of Kinetic Arts was packed with bicycles as parents and kids poured in for circus arts performances and classes.

WOBO took the opportunity to stencil a temporary bike lane on Broadway. The organization's Bike Broadway Campaign seeks "a continuous and safe north-south bicycle boulevard on Broadway." The success of Oaklavia in demonstrating the vitality of safe streets for cyclists should help move that goal forward.

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Oakland will become the latest city to temporarily liberate city streets from car traffic this weekend with its first ciclovia event. Oaklavia will open the streets from Uptown through Downtown and West Oakland to cyclists, walkers, skaters and strollers, artists and performers. Kids on their first tricycle will wander across the lanes in safety, games of 4-square will be chalked out between lane markings, and diners will enjoy exhaust-free café seating.

San Francisco held its first two Sunday Streets in 2008 and other Bay Area cities have joined this year, including San Mateo County in April and San Jose's ViaVelo in May.

Oaklavia is a project of WalkOaklandBikeOakland (WOBO). Founded in 2006, and claiming fewer than 300 paid members (but more than 2000 followers on Facebook and Twitter), WOBO is like Oakland: scrappy and creative with a kids-lets-put-on-a-show spunkiness. 

"Those of us organizing Oaklavia have some very deep roots in Oakland and that Oakland outlook will make our event similar and different to San Francisco Sunday Streets," said Karen Hester, Oaklavia's coordinator. "We have emphasized our urban architecture and activities along the route, especially those that are associated with the creativity of artists and cultural workers in the East Bay."

Oaklavia organizers are also managing the event without breaking the bank.

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