Atlanta Streets Alive
A monthly Open Street presented by ATLDOT with support by Propel ATL & the Atlanta community
Imagine a street full of people of all ages and backgrounds, walking, biking, creating and laughing, together. A street temporarily closed to cars, but open to people. Imagine residents safely enjoying their city, socializing with neighbors, and engaging in healthy activities. Imagine if all of this were free, with absolutely no barriers to participation. By the people, for the people.
Open streets are about getting communities active and changing the way people view their streets and neighborhoods. By incorporating arts and culture, we create vibrant public spaces that invite people to participate in healthy physical activity. And open streets are free and accessible to everyone, young and old, from skateboarders to people using wheelchairs.
Atlanta Streets Alive inspires us all to stop and consider what it might be like if more public spaces were safe and more livable all year round for those of us getting around by foot, bike, and wheelchair.
Background
In May 2010, Propel ATL (formerly the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition) turned this vision into a reality by organizing the first-ever Atlanta Streets Alive.
Atlanta Streets Alive takes a valuable public space – our city’s streets – and opens them up for people to play, walk, bike, breathe, and make their own. It's modeled on tremendously successful initiatives from around the world, including Bogotá, Colombia’s Ciclovia. During the pandemic in 2020, Propel ATL was unable to organize Atlanta Streets Alive, so we took time to develop a proposal for the City of Atlanta to take on the initiative and make it happen more often. In 2022, we worked with Atlanta City Council on legislation to create a monthly program on Peachtree Street, to create demand for streets that serve all Atlantans. The City of Atlanta made it official by including funding for Atlanta Streets Alive in its 2023 fiscal year budget, bringing us closer to the goal of regular, ongoing activations. In 2023, ATLDOT hired staff to make this a reality.
Visit the website to learn more and get involved!
Photo by Steve Eberhardt
Part of an International Movement
Atlanta Streets Alive is a part of an international open streets movement happening in many cities throughout the United States, Canada, and around the world.
The first open streets initiative was called Ciclovía, or “bikeway” in Spanish. Ciclovía started in Bogotá, Colombia in 1976, and now draws over 1.5 million people to walk, bike, skate, and enjoy more than 70 miles of streets opened to people — and closed to automobile traffic — every Sunday. By 1996, it was recognized as the most important recreational activity in the country. The route was extended to 50 miles in 1997.
One of the oldest open streets initiatives in North America started in 1983. Wayne County, Michigan’s “Saturday in the Park” features a six-mile stretch of the Edward Hines Parkway that is closed to motorized traffic every Saturday from May through September. By the late 2000s, the concept had spread to a number of U.S. cities including Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, and Portland, Oregon. Today, ciclovía-style events take place in more than 30 communities in the U.S. and Canada.