It seems as though each CicLAvia is attracting more and more people to the carfree festival that connects ten neighborhoods bordering and including Downtown. After past CicLAvia's, we've asked where's next? But as CicLAvia has become such a powerful symbol of what Los Angeles can be, the chorus calling for a local CicLAvia is growing.
We have just over six months to the next CicLAvia, and there are four contenders to host the next gigantic car free festival.
1) The current route, either as it exists or with a further expansion. The "standard" CicLAvia route connecting the East Hollywood Bicycle District to Hollenbeck Park has proven popular. Media estimates for the amount of people attending CicLAvia in some form dwarf similar events in other American cities. The route expanded for last weekend's event with spurs up to El Pueblo (Olvera Street) and down to the African American Firefighter Museum. However, the two spurs weren't as heavily traveled, or as well marked, so last weekend's route could still prove popular and hold some new sights.
2) In the April CicLAvia, there were new t-shirts available that celebrated a future CicLAvia South L.A. While a completely new route for South L.A. didn't happen in 2011, there was some real movement towards that goal with regular meetings and rides promoting alternatives to the 10/10/10 route that has been the backbone of the CicLAvia route. There has also been talk of having CicLAvia run along the route of Phase 1 of the Expo Line, from Downtown L.A., down to the USC campus and on to La Brea.
3) While they're not calling it CicLAvia, there are also rumblings from advocates and city staff that Culver City should be the next Southern California city to hold a Ciclovia style event. At the same time, Westside Councilman Bill Rosendahl has also pushed for a West L.A. CicLAvia and Santa Monica has also made some noise about closing off a portion of its streets for a carfree party. Could there be a route connecting Culver City to the water? Or even more impressively could we see a combination of the second and third options?
4) While the San Fernando Valley has hardly been a hotbed of bicycling activity, we have seen signs that even The Valley is moving towards livability. Yesterday, Dakota Smith penned an article for the Daily News asking whether the SFV is ready for CicLAvia. Today, the Daily News' editorial board is asking the same question. A CicLAvia in the Valley this April is a long shot, but when the local paper of record takes an interest, anything is possible.
Do you have a better idea? Leave it in the comments section.
