The last time Atlanta Streets Alive rolled through the Howell Mill Road corridor as part of a massive cross-city route in June 2019, roughly 145,000 people showed up to celebrate a car-free lifestyle in the middle of the street.
That’s almost equal to the city populations of Decatur and Athens, combined.
Hoping to recapture that magic as Atlanta Streets Alive rises from the pandemic-induced dead, the Upper Westside Community Improvement District is staging its own streets-opening fiesta across a wide swath of growing neighborhoods two days before Halloween.
They’re calling this Oct. 29 block(s) party the “Westside Stride.” And it’ll actually be a longer event (from noon to 6 p.m.) than three reincarnated Atlanta Streets Alive dates on the calendar for this year.
Atlanta Streets Alive festivities on Howell Mill Road in the late teens. Michael Kahn
For Westside Stride, Howell Mill Road and Marietta Street will be off-limits to cars for 1.5 miles on that Sunday afternoon. The route will stretch from Trabert Avenue near the Atlanta Waterworks complex down to Northside Drive, including a stretch of 17th Street that juts off toward Atlantic Station.
“This event is all about shining a light on our amazing local businesses,” reads the Westside Pride promotional website. “Dust off your walking shoes/bike/stroller/unicycle/skates and come shop at the maker’s market, have a cold one at the beer garden, or try your hand in the cornhole tournament.”
Event organizers say the sections of Howell Mill Road and Marietta Street in question will be closed to vehicles Oct. 29 beginning at 9 a.m. But five cross-streets will remain open—at 14th Street, Brady Avenue, 10th Street, 8th Street, and West Marietta Street—for traveling by car across that part of town.
The planned 1.5-mile Westside Stride route in October. Westsidestride.org
Meanwhile, in the center of town, Atlanta Streets Alive will finally mark its return in less than three weeks following a four-year hiatus.
The popular Peachtree Street route will see streets opened from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 24, and then again on Oct. 22 and Nov. 12. The route travels from Mitchell Street in downtown up to 15th Street in Midtown. Find an interactive map for what’s planned on Peachtree over here.
Inspired by Colombia’s famed Ciclovía open-streets movement, Atlanta Streets Alive launched with a small gathering on Edgewood Avenue in 2010. Across the next decade, organizers say it drew 1.7 million participants to 29 open-streets programs that covered 83 miles of Atlanta.
...
Follow us on social media:
• Home Park news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
