Let the countdown begin!

On Sunday, May 19th, 2013, Atlanta Streets Alive will close 2.7 miles of Atlanta’s signature street to cars, and open it up to the public — for 4 hours — to create a whole new healthy, sustainable and vibrant city street experience.

For four hours, you, your friends and your family will have the chance to take back 2.7 miles of Peachtree Street – by foot, by bike, by roller skates, by skateboard or by any human-powered means of transportation. Just one thing… no gasoline-engines allowed.

Atlanta Streets Alive aims to transform Atlanta streets into safe places for people to bike, walk, run, dance and skate — for fun, fitness and transportation.

Atlanta Streets Alive! Coming May 19, 2013 to Peachtree Street from Rebecca Serna on Vimeo.

 
It’s an event inspired by open streets projects all over the world. The idea originated in Bogotá, Colombia, where neighborhood activists opened the streets for people to bike, skate, or use any human powered means of transportation, while temporarily closing them to motor vehicles. In Bogotá today, 70 miles of streets are opened to the public from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday. Amazingly, over 2 million people – young and old, on foot, bike, and every imaginable kind of wheeled device – take part every Sunday!

Our Atlanta event is organized by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition in partnership with Midtown Alliance, Central Atlanta Progress, and hundreds of local businesses, activity partners and volunteers.

Atlanta Streets Alive is graciously sponsored by the City of Atlanta, The Coca-Cola Company, MailChimp, Ponce City Market, Birds of a Feather, New Belgium Brewery and REI.

Last night, every Atlanta bicycle enthusiast had reason to jump up and down.

At the Blinkie Awards hosted by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Mayor Kasim Reed won the “Most Bike-Friendly Elected Official” award and returned the favor by announcing to Rebecca Serna and the entire crowd that he is giving $50,000 to expand  Atlanta Streets Alive!

The crowd went nuts!!

And the Mayor stayed for the entire event, shaking hands and hanging out with those that are working hard to make Atlanta a more vibrant, safe and sustainable city.

This will be a night remembered for quite a long time. Perhaps it marks the tipping point for Atlanta. It’s been an exciting week for two-wheelers, especially with the unanimous City Council vote that passed a $2.5 million city bond to fund 15 miles of protected bicycle lanes in Atlanta.

So to say our thanks, we thought it would be AWESOME if our fans and the Atlanta bicycle community returned the kindness. Check out this Valentine the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition created to send to the Mayor. Please make sure he knows how much we appreciate his investment to make Atlanta a more bike friendly city!

Experience Human Powered Amusement

Due to the success of the May 20^th event this year, Atlanta Streets Alive is returning to North Highland Avenue on Sunday, October 7^th from 2pm-6pm. This fall event will connect six neighborhoods – Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park, Poncey-Highland, Atkins Park, Midtown and Virginia Highland – along two miles of North Highland Avenue, one mile of Virginia Avenue and nearly two miles of the newly finished Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail. This means Atlanta citizens will be able to experience five miles of car-free human powered amusement.

What to expect on October 7^th

Expect some 15,000 neighbors and fellow Atlantans to come out to the streets. Expect bikers, runners, and walkers interacting with dancers, yoga masters, street hockey, four-square, hop-scotch, belly-dancing, bike polo, double-dutch, zumba, capoeira, and so much more along the open streets. Expect more than 40 activity partners, including local bikes shops offering minor repairs (Outback Bikes, Intown Bicycles, Snyder Cycles, Sopo Bike Coop, and REI), Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture, Free Poems on Demand, a “Pop Up Art” performance from Park Pride, and even Parkour Basics. Activities are free and designed for all ages and all physical activity levels.

Special Events and Activities

Kick off the event by joining the Great Atlanta Halloween Bicycle Parade as it lines up at the intersection of Sampson and Highland Avenue in Old Fourth Ward at 1:30pm and starts at 2pm. Enjoy exciting activities, scavenger hunts, urban adventures, sidewalk displays and street sales offered by local businesses, and find out what a parklet is. Restaurants and food trucks will open their doors, building sidewalk cafés, creating street friendly food menus, and partnering with New Belgium Brewing so that all attendees are satisfied after an afternoon of healthy active living. Then make a stop at Ponce City Market on the BeltLine to enjoy tours during the event followed by a secret performance at 7pm. All that activity is sure to make participants thirsty, so just stop by one of the three Vitamin Water stations sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company. For a complete map of activities, go here.

Why Atlanta Streets Alive?

Atlanta Streets Alive —now in its fourth year—is a biannual people-powered event in our notoriously car-centric city. Atlanta has a disconnected 30 miles of bicycle lanes, a tremendous and expensive backlog of broken sidewalks, and relatively low (but growing) rates of bicycle commuting and walking. The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and partners seek to shift these dynamics and replace them with a proactive community that comes together on a regular basis to participate in active transportation, physical activity, and cultural and artistic endeavors. Atlanta Streets Alive is a chance for neighbors, businesses and advocates for a better city to enjoy our neighborhoods and communities from a different perspective – on foot, from the street.

Inspired by Open Streets Projects

Atlanta Streets Alive is an event inspired by open streets projects all over the world. The idea originated in Bogotá, Colombia, where neighborhood activists open 70 miles of streets every Sunday for over 800,000 people to bike, skate, or use any human powered means of transportation.  “Atlanta Streets Alive helps people of all ages and athletic ability to feel comfortable participating in active transportation, whether for fun, fitness or commuting,” noted Rebecca Serna, ABC’s Executive Director.

Partners and Sponsors

While Atlanta Streets Alive is organized by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the event could not happen without the support of our organizing partners and generous sponsors. This year, The Coca-Cola Company stepped up as the presenting sponsor and will help make Atlanta Streets Alive a reality for Spring 2013 and Fall 2013. We are also proud to have the support of Ponce City Market as our event sponsor and look forward to its continued community involvement along the Atlanta BeltLine. The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. have been terrific partners in planning this event. We also owe tremendous thanks to Atlanta City Council members Aaron Watson, Post 2 At-Large, Alex Wan, District 6, Kwanza Hall, District 2, Carla Smith, District 1, and Lamar Willis, Post 3 At-Large. These members believed in the power of Atlanta Streets Alive from the beginning. New Belgium Brewing is  another key sponsor of Atlanta Streets Alive and continues to support the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition through its many bicycle friendly programs and events. We also thank our sponsors REI, AM 1690, Scoutmob, Creative Loafing and Boot Camp for a Cause for being community sponsors. To become a corporate sponsor, please contact Rebecca Serna at Rebecca@atlantabike.org.

Media & Interviews

Opening remarks will be held at 1:45pm on Sunday, October 7^th, at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and Corley Street (near Highland Bakery & P’Cheen), prior to the bicycle parade at 2pm. Brief remarks from Rebecca Serna, Executive Director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, City Council Member Kwanza Hall, Ponce City Market, and the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership will take place at 1:45 pm

Location: Five mile route from N. Highland Avenue from Glen Iris to Virginia Ave, and on Virginia Ave to Monroe and the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail

Website:  www.AtlantaStreetsAlive.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/atlantastreetsalive

Twitter:  @ATLstreetsalive    www.twitter.com/#!/ATLStreetsAlive

Media Contact:  jenn@atlantabike.org

It’s now about a month after Atlanta Streets Alive, held on May 20th, and I still see Highland Avenue differently. It’s amazing how 13,000 people can totally transform a street and really mess with your mind. I’m not the only one that wants to see another event in the fall. It seems over 100 Facebook fans agreed with the idea of having another Atlanta Streets Alive event in the fall, on the same route. But first, let’s do the recap for those that missed “the community building event of the year” as Jay Tribby says.

An estimated 13,000 Atlantans joined together Sunday, May 20 on North Highland Avenue, where a two-mile stretch of street was temporarily closed off to cars and opened to “human-powered amusement.” Street hockey, four-square, bellydancing, walking, yoga, bike polo, double dutch, salsa, and tai chi were just some of activities available to participants. Local businesses and food trucks opened their doors and joined customers on the pavement, holding street sales and getting to know their customers.

We kicked off with the inaugural Great Atlanta Bicycle Parade, organized by Chantelle Rytter. Nearly 500 people–many wearing costumes and brandishing colorfully decorated “art bikes”– took part in the parade that stretched from North Avenue to Virginia Avenue. Every demographic of Atlanta residents was represented in the parade, riding bicycles that ranged from vintage to bedazzled to top-of-the-line racers. This artful celebration illustrated the evolution Atlanta has made into a city that warmly embraces bicyclists.

Parade rider Angel Poventud, referencing the outpouring and enthusiasm of both the participants and observers, noted, “This is the critical mass the city’s been waiting for. This is a turning point for Atlanta.”

The event not only encouraged residents to be physically active but also to unite as a community. Throughout the event, neighbors and friends were viewed chatting or embracing, and children were seen playing safely with one another in the urban landscape. Elected officials were in attendance as well, mingling with constituents and listening to their concerns.

Five Atlanta City Councilmembers, including Aaron Watson, Alex Wan, Kwanza Hall, Lamar Willis, and Carla Smith, supported the event, an exciting indication that the city sees the value of opening up its streets for residents to get out on foot and bike to connect with neighbors and neighborhoods.

The event’s founding Councilmember from District 2, Kwanza Hall, who spent the day greeting residents from his blue and green single-speed bicycle, said, “North Highland Avenue was more than alive on Sunday; it was positively vibrant. When we free the streets for our citizens to enjoy them on their own terms, we open the door to new forms of intown community.”

Councilmember Aaron Watson, a supporter of the event, was also in attendance on his bicycle and gave remarks in support of active, healthy living in Atlanta, and invited Atlantans to join his Live Smarter initiative.

With Atlanta Streets Alive, Atlanta joins 150 cities in the world–and 70 cities across the U.S.–in implementing “ciclovias,” a tradition of open streets that began in Bogota, Colombia, where 75 miles of streets are closed every Sunday and Holy Day of the year.

Steering Committee member Andrea Torres said, “The overwhelming amount of active and happy people of all ages enjoying a wonderful area of the city of Atlanta out of their cars, playing in the streets, and the amazing social interaction we experienced yesterday, reinforced that Atlanta has an enormous potential of becoming a leader of the Ciclovias in the US.” Torres–and many Atlanta Streets Alive participants–voiced a desire to see streets open to residents on a monthly or weekly basis in order to encourage activity as well as a sense of community. “Atlanta could have a positive individual and social impact in a larger proportion of its population if a more regular program was implemented covering longer routes and connecting neighborhoods,” Torres noted.

The next Atlanta Streets Alive date and location are pending, though the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition hopes to host one in the fall of 2012 in keeping with the tradition of holding two open streets events per year since 2010.. For information on sponsoring an upcoming Streets Alive, contact Rebecca Serna of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the nonprofit organizer behind this project.

The Great Atlanta Halloween Bicycle Parade
October 7th at Atlanta Streets Alive

Everyone is invited to ride in the Great Atlanta Halloween Bicycle Parade at Atlanta Streets Alive! Wear your Halloween Costume and trick out your bike! Or make a Ghost to chase you on your bike at our free workshops hosted by Across the Street Cafe! The Parade begins and ends at P’cheens, 701 Highland Avenue, with a costume contest at the finish!  AND, our route is almost 5 miles long and includes the Atlanta BeltLine’s brand spankin’ new Eastside Trail!

Line-up at 1:30, Parade rolls at 2.

The workshops will be held October 1 & 2 at Across the Street Café 6:30 to 9. Register at www.GreatAtlantaBicycleParade.com

www.GreatAtlantaBicycleParade.com