Yesterday, CicLAvia touched down for the first time in the L.A. harbor communities of Wilmington and San Pedro. This was the 17th iteration of the popular open streets festival, sponsored by Metro's open streets grants program, as usual. L.A.'s hot August sun was tempered by cooling waterfront breezes.
The 7-mile route was a bit of a barbell: plenty of visual interest and activities in the neighborhoods at the northern Wilmington end and the southern San Pedro end, connected by about three miles of an unremarkable industrial landscape along John S. Gibson Boulevard in the middle. At each end - San Pedro's Pacific Avenue and Wilmington's Avalon Boulevard - the route included pleasant historic main street character. Especially in Wilmington, plenty of businesses expanded to the street edge to greet CicLAvia-goers with music, art, sales, parties, water, and smiles.
The route was not particularly well-connected to transit, with the nearest rail station about four miles away in Long Beach and only relatively infrequent weekend bus service. Nonetheless attendance was very good. CicLAvia San Pedro Meets Wilmington was not as wonderfully crowded as downtown L.A. open streets events, but certainly tens of thousands of cyclists, skaters, walkers, runners, and wheelchair users enjoyed the day.
Readers - how was your CicLAvia this past weekend?
