More than a year in the planning, Sunday Parkways was an experiment based on a similar weekly event in Bogota, Colombia, that closes more than 70 miles of major and minor roads each Sunday. Organizers view it as a way to encourage exercise and connect communities. In Portland, a six-mile loop of small neighborhood streets was closed to auto traffic from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Motorists were allowed to drive into the loop, and on major streets that crossed the loop, where police directed bike and auto traffic. It's uncertain whether Portland will replicate Sunday's event. Organizers said it seemed a financial reality that sponsorships will be needed to cover expenses like hiring police to direct traffic. Sponsors covered the city's $150,000 tab for Sunday's activity. But nearly universal positive feedback seemed to encourage organizers.... "My face hurts from smiling all day," said Linda Ginenthal, a Portland Office of Transportation manager who spearheaded the effort.
It's a very simple idea, really- turn a few miles of city streets into a thoroughfare open only to pedestrians and bicyclists. Throw in a few block parties, and before you know it, you have an opportunity for people to interact in a way they normally don't. Freed from having to dodge cars and their drivers, people were able to relax and enjoy being able to rule the road, even if only for a few hours.
Outside of being something that would quite probably never, EVER happen in Houston, Sunday Parkways is notable for than merely symbolic value. Portland is a city in which many people have found alternative ways to get from place to place. Bike paths and sidewalks are common enough to be taken for granted here. Even better is that people actually use them. Of course, Portland has some things going for it that Houston most certainly doesn't- climate and size, just to name a couple- and it doesn't hurt that people here tend to be open to the idea of getting out of their cars.
Linda Ginenthal took an idea that looked promising and turned it into something that really makes sense for a city like Portland. OK, so six hours on a Sunday morning might seem a small and insignificant gesture, but it did get at least a few people out of their cars...even if only for a little while. People interacted in ways that simply aren't possible from behind the wheel of an automobile. If it gets a few people thinking in terms of alternative transportation, then I think Sunday Parkways can fairly be called a success. At least a few folks were able to relax and enjoy a Sunday morning in a way they might not have otherwise...and it didn't cost them any gas money to do it.
Here's to hoping that the City of Portland will make this a regular thing, and that other cities in the area (are you listening, Beaverton??) will also jump on the bandwagon. The price of filling up your car's gas tank isn't going to be an issue if you're not driving it, right?
