Whittier Walk & Roll – Open Streets Open Thread

By Joe Linton
Jul 17, 2017

The Whittier Walk & Roll open streets event opened six miles of car-free streets yesterday. Photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.

This article supported by Los Angeles Bicycle Attorney. Click on the bar for more information. — This article supported by Los Angeles Bicycle Attorney as part of a general sponsorship package. All opinions in the article are that of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of LABA. Click on the ad for more information.

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?

WhittierWR2 — Kids and their families enjoying open streets on Whittier’s Greenleaf Avenue

Pedestrian walking down the middle of the street at Whittier Walk & Roll

WhittierWRdepot — Whittier Walk & Roll included a kids activity zone at Whittier’s historic train depot

WhittierWRstage — A flamenco dancer entertains at Whittier Walk & Roll

WhittierWRband — A band plays at Whittier Walk & Roll

Climbers ascending at Whittier Walk & roll — Climbers ascending at Whittier Walk & Roll

With more Whittier Walk & Roll activities along the central Greenleaf Avenue spine, some residential portions of the route were less populated. Pictured here are cyclists enjoying Mar Vista Street. — With more Whittier Walk & Roll activity concentrated along the central Greenleaf Avenue spine, some residential portions of the route were less populated. Pictured here are cyclists enjoying Mar Vista Street.

Various of the city's large vehicles were used to block off streets for Whitter Walk & Roll — Whittier used various large municipal vehicles to block off streets for 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.”