Open Streets DC

I was fortuitously in Washington, DC, last weekend, when the city hosted its first Open Streets event. About three miles of Georgia Avenue was closed to cars. The meetings I was in town for meant I caught only the last hour of it, but it was amazing.

Open Streets began in Bogota, Colombia all the way back in 1976. A political science colleague mentioned he'd been to one in Mexico City, and that they do that one every year. Seattle was the first American city to hold such an event. The Minneapolis metro area hosted seven such events this past summer. [For more on Open Streets, and Washington's preparation, see Gardner 2019.)

The street chosen for the event was Georgia Avenue NW, which runs north-south between U Street and the DC-Maryland border. It is also US Highway 29, so is a main drag, although not a tourist magnet like Pennsylvania Avenue or Independence Avenue. The street is used mostly by locals, and traverses a number of ethnic-working class neighborhoods. Good tactical choice, then.

I took the Metro from Capitol Hill to the Georgia Avenue-Petworth station, which put me about halfway along the route. From there I walked north to Missouri Avenue. The turnout was impressive: people walking, running, cycling, and scootering, all along the way. It was also impressive for its diversity. A lot of urbanist events I've attended have a definite white, middle-class presence, but Saturday on Georgia Avenue there were large numbers of every racial group. It was a party.

There were few vendors present for the occasion, but the street offered plenty of refreshment and browsing opportunities.

Al fresco lunch with a great view of the action

 There was entertainment...

Music stage near the Metro station

Skateboard demos by the Petworth library

Drum circle

... and chalk art...

...as well as information booths representing the city...

...social service agencies...

...and cycling advocates.

Washington Area Bicyclists Association booth with demonstration protected bike lane

I didn't see any news media, which I mention only because Fox5, the local TV station which played constantly in the lobby of the place I stayed, was preparing its viewers for something like the apocalypse. The apocalypse did not happen. I walked past the barbershop whose worried owner they'd interviewed, and there were customers waiting inside, so he must have come through all right. The next day's newscast had no report on the event anyhow. [Radio station WTOP must have been there; they had this, non-alarmed report.]

Making way for an emergency vehicle

Which is not to say there weren't costs. In order to close the street to cars, every intersection had to be blocked off, which in that part of town meant not just streets but alleys. That added up to a lot of police cars, and police officers, which can't have come cheap. Buses had to be rerouted...

...and of course auto drivers had to find alternate routes.

Southbound Georgia Avenue traffic diverted at Missouri Av

Most service stations along Georgia appeared closed

So an Open Streets event is not an unalloyed good time, but a good time this one was. The energy on the street was incredible, and I imagine I wasn't the only one introduced to the attractions of Georgia Avenue. I got to the end of the route about the time things were closing down, and I caught a bus back to the Metro.

End of the Open: Emery Heights Park, Georgia and Missouri

Taking things down

Barely a block away from Georgia, we ran into gridlocked traffic at 9th Street. (Metro drivers are normally unflappable, but this was worth an "Oh my God!" from ours.) The negative energy of the stuck cars contrasted mightily with the Open Street I'd just left. I suppose one could conclude that messed-up traffic on other streets is another cost of the Open Streets event. What struck me most, though, was how the Open Street catered to people, while Missouri and 9th were catering to cars (albeit not very well). One block separated soul and soullessness. The costs of the suburban development pattern we've pursued for 75 years could not be clearer. (Cue this excerpt from Charles Marohn's new book, Strong Towns: A Bottom Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity [Wiley, 2019].)

SEE ALSO:
Open Streets DC page
Jennell Alexander, "Open Streets DC Brings Fun, Curiosity, Disruption to Georgia Avenue," DC North Star, 5 October 2019
"Security versus Urbanity?" 17 May 2013 [New York City plan to close a section of street to auto traffic]
"Woonerful Woonerful," 7 May 2018 [private DC development experiments with shared space]

Teatro de la Luna took advantage of the crowd going by

Lime e-scooter demonstration