Kate Brady is with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, one of five partnering organizations behind the first Open Streets OKC this year. This blog is part of a series. 

Here’s Kate's advice for new Open Streets organizers.

We held our first event in March of this year. There’s no local pedestrian or bike advocacy organization in Oklahoma City, so agencies and organizations took the helm, led by the Oklahoma City-County Health Department’s Wellness Now Coalition.

Agency partnerships were very important for us. The initiative was fully funded by the Wellness Now Coalition. The City of Oklahoma City was another early advocate, and donated a substantial amount of in-kind services. For example, police to monitor the route were donated by the city.

We pushed hard for a route that was over 1 mile long. In the end, we had a 0.8 mile route that was open from noon until 4 PM on March 30. Between 15,000 and 20,000 people attended – far exceeding our expectations. If this is your first event, aim for at least a mile of Open Street.

On a typical day, 23rd Street in Oklahoma City is a busy arterial with four lanes of auto traffic. Image: Kate Brady 

23rd Street filled with people during the first Open Streets OKC. Image: Kate Brady

In organizing our Open Streets initiative, we went through the following steps:

1. Secure funding
2. Establish a team
3. Get trained! We attended the Open Streets Project’s Open Streets Training in Minneapolis.
4. Set your vision for the event
5. Choose a location that satisfies your vision – preferably with local businesses along the route
6. Secure permits
7. Conduct outreach along the route
8. Iron out day-of details
9. Market to the public to ensure attendance

Open Streets OKC in full swing. Image: Kate Brady

If we could go back and organize this first Open Streets over again, I would make the following changes.

• Develop a plan for follow-up after the event
• Collect e-mail addresses from attendees for future marketing
• Develop a more formalized structure for the planning committee
• Ensure better communication with all organizers.

The route for the first Open Streets OKC was centrally located, with a clear view of the iconic Capitol building. Image: Kate Brady

That said, here’s what I think we got right:

• Location. We held our event in a centrally located commercial corridor surrounded by neighborhoods, so lots of people could get there easily. Bonus: it was very close to the state Capitol which made for great visuals with the Capitol building in the background.
• We had a great core planning group. This group was led by the public health agency.
• Perfect spring weather!
• A strong marketing plan. Our marketing ensured that attendance exceeded our expectations.