Why Every Street Should Be an Open Street
Mar 29, 2016, 11:00 AM, Posted by Sharon Roerty
How can streets get people moving and improve health? When they are open, with room for people of all ages to bike, walk, play, and build community.
Every street should be an open street—open to people with and without wheels, all abilities, all ages, all people. Streets belong to everyone. They connect us to each other and the places where we live, learn, work, and play—across neighborhoods, cultures, and economic status.
Streets are the vascular system of our cities and regions. They let us explore and experience our communities and all that they have to offer.
Most of the time, however, they are overrun by cars. At peak hours, traffic clogs the main arteries, automobile fumes foul the air, and blaring horns assault the eardrums.
What if one day a week we all left our cars at home and took to the streets on our own two feet? What would happen?