Can we never do Open Streets again?

[Anonymous]

To the PP whining about people walking in the streets: you are so wrong that you’re possibly a parody of bicycle activists. All the bike advocates that I know, including people at WABA, support street safety initiatives INCLUDING pedestrians.

You are delusional to think this was a bike focused event. My kids and I enjoyed biking around for it, but we’re not selfish. In fact, it was a good opportunity for my kids to learn respect for pedestrians when biking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I heard about it from WABA this summer, I was incredibly excited. As a cyclist, I really liked the idea of it as a concept - getting cars off the road and letting everyone see the great possibilities of car-less roads as a vision of the future. But it totally failed in execution because people were walking all over the damn road. WTF? So you couldn’t ride down the street at any useful speed because some dumbass would just step right out in front of you like you weren’t there. Uh HELLO! It’s still a road people! Just because there aren’t cars doesn’t mean you can just walk where the hell you want. “Open streets” =/= “pedestrians don’t have to stay on the sidewalk”. So it was sort of a failure from the perspective of using the street for car-less travel, because it just resulted in mobs of people getting in the way. Next time they need to make it clear that walkers need to stay on the sidewalk.

Sounds like you felt the same way about pedestrians as many drivers feel about cyclists. I’m sorry “you couldn’t ride down the street at any useful speed,” because you had to share the road with slower moving people. It does suck.

I have no problem with people walking.

Just do it on the sidewalks where you're supposed to. The street is not for people walking. It's for things with wheels, moving faster than you can walk. And in this case of open streets, that means bicycles. Streets were not designed for people. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I heard about it from WABA this summer, I was incredibly excited. As a cyclist, I really liked the idea of it as a concept - getting cars off the road and letting everyone see the great possibilities of car-less roads as a vision of the future. But it totally failed in execution because people were walking all over the damn road. WTF? So you couldn’t ride down the street at any useful speed because some dumbass would just step right out in front of you like you weren’t there. Uh HELLO! It’s still a road people! Just because there aren’t cars doesn’t mean you can just walk where the hell you want. “Open streets” =/= “pedestrians don’t have to stay on the sidewalk”. So it was sort of a failure from the perspective of using the street for car-less travel, because it just resulted in mobs of people getting in the way. Next time they need to make it clear that walkers need to stay on the sidewalk.

Sounds like you felt the same way about pedestrians as many drivers feel about cyclists. I’m sorry “you couldn’t ride down the street at any useful speed,” because you had to share the road with slower moving people. It does suck.

I have no problem with people walking.

Just do it on the sidewalks where you're supposed to. The street is not for people walking. It's for things with wheels, moving faster than you can walk. And in this case of open streets, that means bicycles. Streets were not designed for people. Period.

You made your point. Absolutely no one else agrees with you. You will never convince anyone to agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Dp before cars, streets used to be for people walking. I think we should have a people first moto rather than a car first.

Then what are sidewalks for ?

Next time you're walking, take a look at how much space on the road is devoted to cars, compared to how much space is devoted to pedestrians.

Or ask yourself what would happen if you decided to walk in the street.

Sidewalks are proportionally scaled to streets in terms of width. A street that's four lanes wide will typically have a sidewalk sized to allow 4 people to walk astride. So in terms of space devoted to each, they get almost exactly the same room as cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I heard about it from WABA this summer, I was incredibly excited. As a cyclist, I really liked the idea of it as a concept - getting cars off the road and letting everyone see the great possibilities of car-less roads as a vision of the future. But it totally failed in execution because people were walking all over the damn road. WTF? So you couldn’t ride down the street at any useful speed because some dumbass would just step right out in front of you like you weren’t there. Uh HELLO! It’s still a road people! Just because there aren’t cars doesn’t mean you can just walk where the hell you want. “Open streets” =/= “pedestrians don’t have to stay on the sidewalk”. So it was sort of a failure from the perspective of using the street for car-less travel, because it just resulted in mobs of people getting in the way. Next time they need to make it clear that walkers need to stay on the sidewalk.

Sounds like you felt the same way about pedestrians as many drivers feel about cyclists. I’m sorry “you couldn’t ride down the street at any useful speed,” because you had to share the road with slower moving people. It does suck.

I have no problem with people walking.

Just do it on the sidewalks where you're supposed to. The street is not for people walking. It's for things with wheels, moving faster than you can walk. And in this case of open streets, that means bicycles. Streets were not designed for people. Period.

You don’t seem to have much background in transportation planning. Where do you get your theories from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP, that's not what I took it to mean, and it's not how WABA was promoting it

Well, now you know.

Also, I'm checking, and here's what WABA says:

What would you do on streets with no cars? Would you dance? Ride your bike with child-like joy? Invite your friends and family to join?

On Saturday, October 5th, DC is organizing its first-ever Open Streets event and you can do it all!

Nearly three miles of Georgia Avenue NW will be temporarily closed to encourage folks to be active and enjoy their city and communities.

This is a great opportunity to bring your family and friends out for a day of fun, from walking, pushing strollers, dancing, hopscotching, shopping, and meeting neighbors — all on car-free streets!

What is open streets? It’s when you temporarily close a roadway to vehicle traffic and open it up to the people – so that the neighborhood and the city can walk, run, play, push strollers, bike, hulah hoop, hopscotch, dance, and have fun in the middle of the street. WABA has been advocating for an open streets event in DC since 2016.

Why are open streets projects awesome? Open streets encourage active transportation and community engagement. By opening up streets to people, you:

Create a safe and welcoming place for residents to come together and enjoy playing and moving through a car-free space;
Serve DC residents and connect neighbors;
Invest in the community;
Draw national attention to DC’s commitment to safe streets and active transportation;
Encourage community members and decision makers to think about public space in a new way

Come see what it looks like to reclaim streets for people and families.

https://waba.org/blog/2019/09/open-streets-dc/

So maybe you misread?

The very first implication is that this event was supposed to clear the roads for cyclists to use. It's pretty obvious.

And guess what, people DID ride their bikes with childlike joy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Dp before cars, streets used to be for people walking. I think we should have a people first moto rather than a car first.

Then what are sidewalks for ?

Next time you're walking, take a look at how much space on the road is devoted to cars, compared to how much space is devoted to pedestrians.

Or ask yourself what would happen if you decided to walk in the street.

Sidewalks are proportionally scaled to streets in terms of width. A street that's four lanes wide will typically have a sidewalk sized to allow 4 people to walk astride. So in terms of space devoted to each, they get almost exactly the same room as cars.

First of all, that's factually incorrect.

And second of all, we're not talking about cars, we're talking about people. People on foot, and people in cars. When you're on foot, you get a tiny fraction of the road space. When you're in a car, you get most of the road space. That's cars first, not people first. I'm for people first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP, that's not what I took it to mean, and it's not how WABA was promoting it

Well, now you know.

Also, I'm checking, and here's what WABA says:

What would you do on streets with no cars? Would you dance? Ride your bike with child-like joy? Invite your friends and family to join?

On Saturday, October 5th, DC is organizing its first-ever Open Streets event and you can do it all!

Nearly three miles of Georgia Avenue NW will be temporarily closed to encourage folks to be active and enjoy their city and communities.

This is a great opportunity to bring your family and friends out for a day of fun, from walking, pushing strollers, dancing, hopscotching, shopping, and meeting neighbors — all on car-free streets!

What is open streets? It’s when you temporarily close a roadway to vehicle traffic and open it up to the people – so that the neighborhood and the city can walk, run, play, push strollers, bike, hulah hoop, hopscotch, dance, and have fun in the middle of the street. WABA has been advocating for an open streets event in DC since 2016.

Why are open streets projects awesome? Open streets encourage active transportation and community engagement. By opening up streets to people, you:

Create a safe and welcoming place for residents to come together and enjoy playing and moving through a car-free space;
Serve DC residents and connect neighbors;
Invest in the community;
Draw national attention to DC’s commitment to safe streets and active transportation;
Encourage community members and decision makers to think about public space in a new way

Come see what it looks like to reclaim streets for people and families.

https://waba.org/blog/2019/09/open-streets-dc/

So maybe you misread?

The very first implication is that this event was supposed to clear the roads for cyclists to use. It's pretty obvious.

Only if you think that "ride your bike with child-like joy" means "get everybody else out of the way while I ride my bike." I don't think that. The people on bikes I know who were there don't think that. So maybe you think that, but plenty of people who aren't you disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP, that's not what I took it to mean, and it's not how WABA was promoting it

It wasn’t a WABA event.

No, it was a District of Columbia government event that involved several agencies. However, WABA heavily promoted it and even sponsored an event. Here is language that WABA chose to post on their website:

The District of Columbia is hosting the region’s first ever Open Streets event, where folks of all ages are invited to use car-free streets to exercise, jog, dance, scoot, bike, play roller hockey, and enjoy being outside.

WABA and the Rita Bright Family and Youth Recreation center will lead a fun, social ride from the Rita Bright Center to DC Open Streets.

WABA was definitely promoting this as an event where pedestrians should be in the streets. To asset a different interpretation is being disingenuous.

I'm the one who pointed out it wasn't a WABA event. I totally agree with you! I was pointing it out to highlight that WABA can say whatever they want, but it doesn't make it right, or accurately convey the intention of the event (although I also agree with you that the bolded IS accurate).

[Anonymous]

No one SAID it was a WABA event! JFC people! It was ON the WABA events section. That DOES NOT mean WABA planned it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP, that's not what I took it to mean, and it's not how WABA was promoting it

Well, now you know.

Also, I'm checking, and here's what WABA says:

What would you do on streets with no cars? Would you dance? Ride your bike with child-like joy? Invite your friends and family to join?

On Saturday, October 5th, DC is organizing its first-ever Open Streets event and you can do it all!

Nearly three miles of Georgia Avenue NW will be temporarily closed to encourage folks to be active and enjoy their city and communities.

This is a great opportunity to bring your family and friends out for a day of fun, from walking, pushing strollers, dancing, hopscotching, shopping, and meeting neighbors — all on car-free streets!

What is open streets? It’s when you temporarily close a roadway to vehicle traffic and open it up to the people – so that the neighborhood and the city can walk, run, play, push strollers, bike, hulah hoop, hopscotch, dance, and have fun in the middle of the street. WABA has been advocating for an open streets event in DC since 2016.

Why are open streets projects awesome? Open streets encourage active transportation and community engagement. By opening up streets to people, you:

Create a safe and welcoming place for residents to come together and enjoy playing and moving through a car-free space;
Serve DC residents and connect neighbors;
Invest in the community;
Draw national attention to DC’s commitment to safe streets and active transportation;
Encourage community members and decision makers to think about public space in a new way

Come see what it looks like to reclaim streets for people and families.

https://waba.org/blog/2019/09/open-streets-dc/

So maybe you misread?

The very first implication is that this event was supposed to clear the roads for cyclists to use. It's pretty obvious.

That’s not even right. The first activity mentioned was “dancing,” not biking. “Would you dance?” That is, would you dance in the open street, on your feet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Dp before cars, streets used to be for people walking. I think we should have a people first moto rather than a car first.

Then what are sidewalks for ?

Next time you're walking, take a look at how much space on the road is devoted to cars, compared to how much space is devoted to pedestrians.

Or ask yourself what would happen if you decided to walk in the street.

Sidewalks are proportionally scaled to streets in terms of width. A street that's four lanes wide will typically have a sidewalk sized to allow 4 people to walk astride. So in terms of space devoted to each, they get almost exactly the same room as cars.

But there were many walkers who participated in this event, more walkers than you would normally see on Georgia Avenue. Citing the ordinary capacity of the sidewalk doesn’t make any sense given the volume of pedestrians.

[Anonymous]

Who says “walkers”? Sounds like The Walking Dead.


Pedestrians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who says “walkers”? Sounds like The Walking Dead.


Pedestrians.

Elegant variation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP, that's not what I took it to mean, and it's not how WABA was promoting it

Well, now you know.

Also, I'm checking, and here's what WABA says:

What would you do on streets with no cars? Would you dance? Ride your bike with child-like joy? Invite your friends and family to join?

On Saturday, October 5th, DC is organizing its first-ever Open Streets event and you can do it all!

Nearly three miles of Georgia Avenue NW will be temporarily closed to encourage folks to be active and enjoy their city and communities.

This is a great opportunity to bring your family and friends out for a day of fun, from walking, pushing strollers, dancing, hopscotching, shopping, and meeting neighbors — all on car-free streets!

What is open streets? It’s when you temporarily close a roadway to vehicle traffic and open it up to the people – so that the neighborhood and the city can walk, run, play, push strollers, bike, hulah hoop, hopscotch, dance, and have fun in the middle of the street. WABA has been advocating for an open streets event in DC since 2016.

Why are open streets projects awesome? Open streets encourage active transportation and community engagement. By opening up streets to people, you:

Create a safe and welcoming place for residents to come together and enjoy playing and moving through a car-free space;
Serve DC residents and connect neighbors;
Invest in the community;
Draw national attention to DC’s commitment to safe streets and active transportation;
Encourage community members and decision makers to think about public space in a new way

Come see what it looks like to reclaim streets for people and families.

https://waba.org/blog/2019/09/open-streets-dc/

So maybe you misread?

The very first implication is that this event was supposed to clear the roads for cyclists to use. It's pretty obvious.

That’s not even right. The first activity mentioned was “dancing,” not biking. “Would you dance?” That is, would you dance in the open street, on your feet?

Pretty sure “dancing” was used metaphorically, not literally.

Biking was used literally.