The weather for Open Streets Salem on Saturday the 22nd looks mostly good - sun, some clouds, maybe a passing shower. And if you wanted to make a full weekend of open streets fun, you could travel to Eugene for their Sunday Streets on the 23rd.
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This is from 2017; there's one new center
on Norway and Winter at Jason Lee Church
(This year's map is a tiny image) |
Here in Salem they've published
the schedule of traveling events, and it's great to see more of them:
11 a.m. – Ride with the Mayor: Meet at the Highland Elementary School Activity Hub Info Booth for a ride with Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett and City Councilor Cara Kaser to Grant Community School!
11:30 a.m. – Nearby Nature Walk: Meet at the Straub Environmental Center booth at Grant Community School - Escuela Comunitaria Grant for a half-hour walk of nature highlights in the neighborhood!
12 p.m. – Choose Reuse, Salem Puppet Parade 2018: Meet at Grant Community School - Escuela Comunitaria Grant for a puppet extravaganza! Make a giant puppet, celebrate at the awards ceremony, and parade down Winter Street to the Salem Saturday Market. Puppet assembly will begin at the corner of Hood & Cottage.
1 p.m. – River Sangha Mindfulness/Peace Walk: Meet at the Highland Elementary School OSS Info Booth for a silent Mindfulness/Peace Walk to the Jason Lee Hispanic Resource Center!
1:30 p.m. – Meet at the Straub Environmental Center booth at Grant Community School for a half-hour walk of nature highlights in the neighborhood!
2 p.m. – Winter-Maple Bikeway Tour: Meet with Salem Bike Boulevard Advocates at the OSS Info Booth in the northwest corner of Salem Saturday Market for a bicycle tour of the Winter-Maple Bikeway route!
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| On older "Open Street" - via Twitter |
It remains a small disappointment how much of the event is structured as
a Street Fair in the adjacent parking lots and park areas at the activity hubs, and how even with the "traveling events," it's the attractions of the booths and hubs, not the street closure and activity in the street itself, that are centered. (This is in no small way a consequence of the route being on low-traffic neighborhood streets that lack commercial destinations.)
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| Where's the street? |
There was a good-sized notice in the paper today, it was nice to see,
but the picture is a little perplexing. It's a strong graphic, but it's
from
the puppet parade,
and if you weren't already clued into the event, as a graphical element
it wouldn't necessarily convey much about the event - that it happens
in the
streets.
Clearly we still will have to grow into the
streets and
car-free part of things. Maybe these are too novel or even a little controversial to highlight yet, and we will have to keep pushing for a wider embrace.
From this perspective, maybe the most exciting event is the Edgewater Walking Cruise. They will meet in Wallace Marine Park, walk across the Union Street Railroad Bridge and along the north edge of downtown to Grant School, where they will join the event formally. Though much of their route will not be on closed streets, their walking mobility exemplifies the essential spirit of the event. Willamette Wanderers will also have
some self-guided routes.
Next weekend there will be a little festival at the new Geer Bike Park, and this is something that could be attached as part of Open Streets Salem. A longer route from Highland School to Geer Park would be something!
Another possibility for next year is
the Main Street project that has been languishing. It would be great to have some of the downtown streets involved and car free for the afternoon.
If Saturday doesn't work for you,
Eugene has one of their events on Sunday. They'll be in West Eugene
in the Churchill neighborhood. Part of the route will be on the Fern Ridge path and show off the new Buck Street bridge, which connects the area south of the creek to the new westside EmX bus rapid transit line as well as to Fred Meyer and the commercial district along 11th Avenue. Nearby also is the venerable Richardson Bridge, which has been moved and reused several times and has a nice story.
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| Richardson Bridge of 1912 |
1 comment:
Late yesterday they posted an updated and larger map. They also announced a "passport" program for collecting stamps at the activity hubs.
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