The most famous Ciclovìa occurs in Bogota, Colombia every Sunday when 70 miles of major roadways are shut down and two million people take to the street to walk, ride bicycles and play. The dynamic of challenging the presumption that major streets exist only for cars is powerful, as people rethink the use of public spaces. Many activities take place along the route, including music, food, art, and gatherings. A number of US cities have adopted this concept, calling them Sunday Parkways, Summer Streets, Sunday Streets and CicLAvia among others. US cities that currently have Ciclovia programs include: Seattle, Portland, Cambridge, Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, and El Paso and this year several other cities such as LA are joining in.
Current data shows that many programs are also underway throughout the Americas. Beyond the US, “Ciclovia’s” are happening in Canada, Mexico, Guatamala, Salvador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Chile.
Boulder’s own Ciclovia “Boulder Green Streets” hopes to demonstrate how small to medium sized US Cities can make this program work in such communties.
