By locating routes near public transportation, a broad range of local communities can easily participate—and CicLAvia entices people to go places they haven’t visited. Photo Credit: Laura Rudich

Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Owner: CicLAvia
Designer: CicLAvia
Additional Team Members: City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), AARP, The Getty Foundation, KCRW 89.9FM, Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil), Community Arts Resources (CARS), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Site Size: 43.5 acres (17.6 hectares)
Number of People Served (within a half-mile): 1,850,000
Opened: October 10, 2010
Website: https://www.ciclavia.org/

By design, CicLAvia routes traverse the centerpiece boulevards that distinguish LA’s many, unique neighborhoods. Photo Credit: Farah Sosa

CicLAvia improves the quality of life throughout LA by opening streets and connecting people to each other in joyous, shared activity. Photo Credit: John Endow

CicLAvia turns public streets into public parks for a day. Though unconventional, CicLAvia is a “best park” with enormous reach and impact beyond any one community. Instead of building permanent infrastructure, CicLAvia builds a unifying social fabric connecting neighborhoods and neighbors to each other. Growing from one Sunday in 2010 to every other month in 2019, CicLAvia has covered 226 miles—and growing. Averaging 43.5 acres, each route is 7 times larger than LA’s median size public park. More than 1.85 million people have participated in 35 CicLAvia open streets, averaging 53,000 each. People come from both host neighborhoods—and from all over LA—to explore LA together. They are split among new, repeat and die-hard fans. One of LA’s most beloved open spaces—CicLAvia is the go-to way to celebrate the region’s most important cultural moments. The Getty Foundation, LA Phil and UCLA have partnered with CicLAvia to bring their celebrations into the streets. By moving around LA on a bimonthly basis, CicLAvia creates greater equity for LA ‘s most park-poor communities. Key to CicLAvia’s success is it happens with neighborhoods, not to neighborhoods. Planning starts with community dialogue, and hundreds of volunteers work alongside public safety workers. Acknowledging CicLAvia’s success, LA’s Green New Deal embraces monthly open streets by 2021—and weekly by 2022. CicLAvia improves the quality of life in LA one ride, walk, stroll, roll, dance, run, smile at a time.

CicLAvia is LA’s go-to way to celebrate its most important cultural achievements! The Getty Foundation, LA Phil and UCLA have partnered with CicLAvia to share their celebrations with the public. Photo Credit: Laura Rudich

CicLAvia’s Heart of LA route crosses 4th Street Bridge connecting Boyle Heights to DTLA, knitting together neighborhoods on car-less streets. Photo Credit: Gary Leonard