The inaugural Portland Sunday Parkways took place on Sunday, June 22nd in North Portland (our neighborhood). This is an event where Portlanders are encouraged to get out and enjoy Portland by walking, biking, strolling, rollerblading or whatever through a 6 mile stretch of road. The best part, the roads were closed to traffic so there wasn’t a worry in the world as thousands of people got out and enjoyed the nice weather, and the opportunity to see our ‘hood up in North Portland. This idea was actually taken from Bogota, Columbia. Every single Sunday a stretch of 90km is closed off for those to enjoy a car free ride/walk/run. It’s a brilliant idea.
I actually got up in the morning and rode the 6 mile loop on my bike to “scope” things out. It was raining when I went, but I wanted to get out for a little ride anyway. Later in the day the weather cleared and Heather, Hadley and I walked a good portion of the 6 mile loop. We saw our friends the Tottens enjoying the event on their bikes (see photos). We had a great time. My hope is that the city of Portland decides to do this throughout the summer in different neighborhoods. It would give people a chance to visit a neighborhood they don’t normally visit.
From the sounds of it though, it was quite spendy as the police force was in full effect stopping/directing traffic on some of the busier streets.
