CicLAvia: Closing Down 7.5 Miles Of Streets For Bicyclists A Good Thing For Los Angeles?

• The whole point of advocacy is to convince people who disagree with you to agree with you. Thanks for stepping up Dennis, hope to see you on the streets next time the city opens them to public use.

• Ever since LA Weekly was bought out it has been gutted of it's people power reporters. Dennis Romero is an old dinosaur sucking that dinosaur blood into oblivion. Modern societies where quality of life is far higher than the trash heap we call the USA were already thinking about the future 3 decades ago when they built vast and well connected bike routes and cycle paths. If you travel to the Netherlands you'll see all kinds of people powering them selves looking fit and damn fine. Meanwhile the US is carting around fat people on golf carts.

• Ever since LA Weekly was bought out it has been gutted of it's people power reporters. Dennis Romero is an old dinosaur sucking that dinosaur blood into oblivion. Modern societies where quality of life is far higher than the trash heap we call the USA were already thinking about the future 3 decades ago when they built vast and well connected bike routes and cycle paths. If you travel to the Netherlands you'll see all kinds of people powering them selves looking fit and damn fine. Meanwhile the US is carting around fat people on golf carts.

• Thanks for the kind comments y'all. We were wrong about CicLAvia. We had an editor attend and she loved it. -Dennis

• @ Robert "OF course all the bicyclists are posting all over the internet but there are many more negative posts on this event. First of all the City could not afford the valuable resources used when we're on the verge of bankruptcy" Both drivers of car and cyclists pay aprox 350.00 into the General Tax Fund each year. DMV registration pays for the bureaucracy that is DMV,the vast majority of our coasts to accommodate drivers comes from the GTF...the fund that we all pay into every-time we purchase foods and merchandise with a whopping 9.5% tax and part of our income tax as well. IT COSTS THE GTF $3,000.00 for every car on the road, while it only costs the GTF only $34.00 per bicycle. Building a cycle infrastructure that encourages motorists to bike instead of drive would effectively bring California out of debt. It would ease car traffic, decrease air pollution, decrease our dependence on oil and decrease urban blight that always follows in car congested areas. It would also benefit business; fourteen bikes can fit into the space of one parking lot. And I saw that food shops and business on the cicLAvia route were booming. As for your assertional that some "spots were bare" I did not see any, but what about all the bare spots on the road when cars are using them?

• @ Robert "OF course all the bicyclists are posting all over the internet but there are many more negative posts on this event. First of all the City could not afford the valuable resources used when we're on the verge of bankruptcy" Both drivers of car and cyclists pay aprox 350.00 into the General Tax Fund each year. DMV registration pays for the bureaucracy that is DMV,the vast majority of our coasts to accommodate drivers comes from the GTF...the fund that we all pay into every-time we purchase foods and merchandise with a whopping 9.5% tax and part of our income tax as well. IT COSTS THE GTF $3,000.00 for every car on the road, while it only costs the GTF only $34.00 per bicycle. Building a cycle infrastructure that encourages motorists to bike instead of drive would effectively bring California out of debt. It would ease car traffic, decrease air pollution, decrease our dependence on oil and decrease urban blight that always follows in car congested areas. It would also benefit business; fourteen bikes can fit into the space of one parking lot. And I saw that food shops and business on the cicLAvia route were booming.

• The event ran for 7.5 miles for 5 hours. So as crazy as it may be, it's possible that not all 100k riders were in the same spot at the same time to get in a picture to prove to the haters that didn't show up that people came out and had a great time. What would the LA Times gain from lying about 100k attendees? It seems like a realistic estimate if you were there to witness it. As for all the money coming from LA, as some of you say, here is info straight from a story on KPCC: "This first CicLAvia, while it had the support of Mayor Villaraigosa, did not take any money from Los Angeles� general fund. Instead, the event was funded by contributions from the Annenberg Foundation, California Endowment, Metabolic Studios, Boeing, and other foundations, companies, and even individuals who contributed more than $8000 through Kickstarter." The LA Weekly's hate for alternate modes of transportation is duly noted. You guys have really lost touch with the world and your readers. Even though some want to stay caged up in their cars just to go 2 miles, a lot of people in our city are turning to their bikes, their feet, and their spirit to get around. Maybe you're all too nostalgic for the LA smog. Yeah, breathe it in.

• OF course all the bicyclists are posting all over the internet but there are many more negative posts on this event. First of all the City could not afford the valuable resources used when we're on the verge of bankruptcy. Then you have other media reporters stating there was no where near 100,000 as dumb ass LA Slimes is saying. Just look at the tv news coverage and so many areas were bare and not one good shot of thousands at a time. Pics say it all. The fact is the Failure of a Mayor used this event for another media whore photo op and the bicyclists who blast him at several meetings gave in and became his lapdogs for the day. The city can't afford to do this event again at the expense of taxpayers.

• Dear L.A. Weekly, It's time to let Patrick Coolican write transportation columns. Between your magazine's inability to get behind CicLAvia or the Westside Subway you're becoming an "alternate" press outlet for grumpy, car-obsessed, old people.

• Dennis, recall in your Sept. 23rd post when you stated "study this map (referring to CicLAiva map), because it includes the streets you'll want to avoid on Oct. 10th"? I'm beyond uphoric that Angelenos didn't share your negativity and came out in droves. Would love to hear your concept on engaging 100K Angelenos for a day of free, community building fun. Wait...

• "The Los Angeles Times even stated that 100,000 people participated, although photos don't make it out to be half that crowded." The route stretched over 7.5 miles. That's plenty of space for 100,000 people to occupy without being packed in like sardines. It's not a sporting event or concert where everyone is confined to a stadium at the same place and time so that the size of the crowd is easily comprehended. With people free to move about as they please, there are bound to be areas where people cluster and others that are left relatively empty. Additionally, people likely came and went throughout the day, making it unlikely that all 100,000 people were out there at once. I was out there the whole time and had an absolute blast. I was on roving volunteer duty between downtown and MacArthur Park keeping an eye out for problems and helping people out with minor mechanical issues, and was amazed at how smoothly things went, as well as the sense of genuine joy that was seemingly evident in everyone who participated. It was awesome to see such a wide-ranging cross-section of people enjoying themselves, and to realize that LA's streets don't have to be mere conduits for cars to pass through, but places to be lived in and experienced outdoors, at a slower pace and on a more human scale. We definitely need to have more events like this... quarterly at the very least, and hopefully on a monthly or weekly basis.

• "Organizers now want to do five similar events next year and eventually make CicLAvia a weekly ride. Are you up for it?" Hell yes!

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