Viva Streets Moves to Berkeley, but Lives on in Park Hill
By Tracy Boyle, LiveWell Colorado and Piep Van Heuven, BikeDenver
For the last two summers, Park Hill has been home to Viva Streets – Denver’s first “ciclovia” or street closure event, put on by LiveWell Colorado and BikeDenver. The goal in creating Viva Streets was to introduce the public and policymakers to the many benefits that come from increased walking and biking in our local communities, and the role that the built environment plays in encouraging safe active transportation. The event has been a huge success, bringing out more than 10,000 bicyclers, walkers, dancers, strollers, skate boarders, and many others to enjoy the experience of moving along 23rd Ave. for the day. We could not have launched this event so successfully without the help and support from the neighbors, businesses, organizations, and City Council members from the Park Hill area. This is truly a testament to the amazing Park Hill people, thank you so much for your enthusiasm and support.
For 2013, the Viva Streets team has made the decision to move the event to a new part of the city in order to engage more neighborhoods in the Viva Streets mission. This in no way reflects negatively about the experience in Park Hill; in fact, the Park Hill event has set the standard for which we hope to replicate across Denver and Colorado. The new route will be in the Berkeley/Regis neighborhood, with a planned route that will form a “T” along the Tennyson Business District and across West 46th Ave. The date is set for Sunday, August 11th. We are excited about the opportunity to engage new audiences and highlight the walkable and bikeable areas in Northwest Denver.
The enthusiasm in Park Hill for Viva Streets is being sustained by many neighbors. A committee is exploring if Park Hill can hold its own Viva Streets event in the future. If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Sara Struckman, sara.struckman@gmail.com, to participate. There is a possibility of holding a smaller event this summer with a larger one next year.
We have truly appreciated your support of Viva Streets these past two years, and look forward to working with you again on other community engagement events. Thank you so much for helping us launch Denver’s first ciclovia, and for helping us establish Viva Streets as a great annual celebration for walking and biking, and a very visual reminder that our streets are built for people: people who walk, people who bike and people who drive.