Believe it or not, there was a time in ancient North American history when Open Streets initiatives weren't very common. In the long-lost days of 2005, these fun, car-free events only took place in 10 cities across the continent. What were we thinking?? 

Since then, though, community leaders have seen just how successful these initiatives can be. The number of Open Streets in the United States, Canada, and Mexico has swelled to over 100. 

Perhaps the most famous and impactful Open Streets initiative in North America takes place in Los Angeles, CA -- a city notorious for being auto-dependent and perpetually gridlocked. Despite its reputation, though, L.A. has opened its arms to CicLAvia. The initiative brings the city together several times per year by closing city streets to cars and opening them to people. The result is a healthy, vibrant, paradigm-shifting way for Angelinos to experience their community -- and new conversations about making Los Angeles a walkable, bikeable city. 

An animated gif of the CicLAvia route shows bike riders streaming past. Image: Mike Samuelson / Mary Lauran Hall

At the Alliance for Biking & Walking, we're committed to spreading Open Streets by helping more leaders bring events like CicLAvia to their communities. That's why we work with the Street Plans Collaborative on the Open Streets Project to spread best practices and lessons for putting on great Open Streets initiatives.

And this month, we had the opportunity to convene community leaders at the first ever National Open Streets Summit to learn all about how Open Streets like CicLAvia tick.

It was an electric, highly inspiring event. 80 leaders from 16 U.S. states and six countries (!) came to the training, which was the first conference in North America focused exclusively on Open Streets. We are grateful to Los Angeles County Metro, Kaiser Permanente of Southern California, and Community Design Group, who made the summit possible. The Summit featured two days of energizing discussions on how to plan Open Streets, featuring expert input from organizers from CicLAvia as well as leaders from Minneapolis, San Antonio, Atlanta, San Francisco and Santa Cruz. 

But the best part of the Summit didn't involve PowerPoints or meeting rooms. On the final day, the whole group attended CicLAvia and got a V.I.P. behind the scenes tour of the initiative. The route was filled with people biking and walking, and showed just how powerful Open Streets can be.  

This street is full of people at CicLAvia. Image: Mike Samuelson

Saskia Lucas, Founder of Open Streets Santa Cruz, was grateful for the bonds she formed with fellow organizers from around the world. "The Open Streets National Summit was one of the most fun AND useful conferences I've attended," she said. "I really felt like I got to know folks over the course of the three days and develop the feeling of being part of a supportive team that I will stay in contact with going forward."

Jenn Graham from Atlanta Streets Alive agreed. "It was fascinating to meet and learn from open streets organizers all over the world," Jenn told us. "I walked away with so many ideas I can bring back to Atlanta, as well as new partners to share ideas, resources and encouragement."

Jeffery Miller, President / CEO of the Alliance, left the training feeling floored by all that local organizers are doing.

"It is so inspiring to meet and work with dedicated community leaders who see the power of Open Streets to engage their community to improve opportunities for safe biking and walking," Jeff said. "We have seen that Open Streets also open minds about public space and how to make our communities better places to live and travel. Everyone I talked to was more energized and better equipped to start or grow open streets in their community."

"Our many partners and presenters, especially the home team from CicLAvia, did an excellent job reviewing the multiple opportunities, challenges, and solutions to running a successful Open Streets initiative."