Yesterday, the nonprofit CicLAvia hosted its fiftieth open streets event. CicLAvia Melrose opened four miles of Melrose Avenue between Fairfax and Vermont Avenues.
The first CicLAvia took place on 10-10-10 - October 10, 2010. That route also opened a small part of Melrose - at Heliotrope Drive. That Hel-Mel area, then informally known as the Bicycle District, was the home of the Bicycle Kitchen (which was soon thereafter gentrified out of Hel-Mel, then bought its own building in East Hollywood - but that's another story).
The fiftieth CicLAvia kicked off yesterday with remarks by L.A. City Councilmembers Katy Young Yaroslavsky and Hugo Soto-Martinez. Both councilmembers speeches were similar to their recent statements in support of the Healthy Streets L.A. initiative Measure HLA - proclaiming CicLAvia to be a place where Angelenos could experience a walkable, bikeable future.
As with nearly all Southern California open streets events, tens of thousands of people attended CicLAvia Melrose, mostly on bike, also plenty of runners, walkers, skaters, scooterists, people using wheelchairs, and more. Lots of folks were there from the 9 a.m. kick-off (and even earlier) and the route became crowded by early afternoon.
One remarkable aspect is how these events transform streets. On most days Melrose feels like a noisy over-wide car-choked hostile place to bike or walk. During CicLAvia, especially at and near the hub by Paramount Studios, the street felt almost too small to contain the bustle of activity.
Below are additional photos from the event.
Readers - how was your experience at yesterday's CicLAvia Melrose event?
