Whittier Walk & Roll – Open Streets Open Thread

The city of Whittier hosted its first open streets event yesterday: Whittier Walk & Roll. Thousands of people biked, walked, scootered, skated, ran, and wheelchaired through six miles of car-free streets in Uptown Whittier. The free event was sponsored by Metro’s open streets grant program. The route included lots of activity centers from music stages to a kids zone to a climbing wall and more.

The star stretch of the event was Whittier’s Greenleaf Avenue which boasts a very pleasant main street scale, mature shade trees, shops, restaurants and a late 1800s historic train depot. Even with the July sun boosting southern California temperatures, Greenleaf had plenty of cool shade. Greenleaf’s bakeries, cafes, coffee and boba tea shops were busy. Lots of event participants sat along Greenleaf hanging out, eating, and people-watching.

Though there were plenty of kids, families, couples, and others enjoying the quiet calm streets, attendance was a bit sparse compared to more transit-accessible and central CicLAvia events.

Readers – how was your experience at Whittier Walk & Roll?

The next L.A. County open streets event will be CicLAvia – San Pedro meets Wilmington, coming up Sunday August 13.

San Gabriel Valley livability coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”