Sunday Parkways

Photo: Benjamin Rue

Even from far away, I still love Portland. Today NE Portland hosted the event Sunday Parkways. The city closed off 7.5 miles of streets to car traffic. I wasn't there. I'm in Nashville right now, but I can imagine the scene. People biked, walked, jogged, maybe even stilted their way around the route. This is Portland's 2nd year to host the event. (See a really awesome movie of last year's event) And this year they added 2 more dates and 2 more quadrants of the city. NoPo hosted the event in June. And SE will host the event in August. Sunday Parkways is aimed at bringing communities together for a fun-filled, relaxed Sunday. The route joins public parks that are hubs for the days activities and food vendors as well as informational booths.

The idea of Sunday Parkways was inspired by Ciclovia, an event in Bogota, Columbia. Every week on Sunday, from 5am to 5pm, the city closes 70 miles of streets to traffic and nearly 2 million people fill the streets. People bike, walk, run, skate, dance and build community. You can watch the Bogota event on Streetfilms. What an amazing and awesome event to bring people out of their homes and bring them together!