Tag Archives: cicLAvia

We had a great Westside WalkLAvia!

Posted on by
Reply

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

On April 21, during the last CicLAvia (to the Sea!), we organized a Westside WalkLAvia from the Culver City Expo Line station all the way to Venice Beach, about five miles.

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

About 30 walkers started the WalkLavia, but due to the looooooong distance and because there was so much to do along the way (so many great hubs!), we started to spread out quite a bit.

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

Luckily we ended up recruiting lots of walkers along the way, encouraging folks to walk with us (or walk their bikes) for a few blocks.

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

We had plenty of great LA Walks signage thanks to our captain of flair Jessica Meaney!

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

And we were even trailed by a documentary film crew! More on that later!

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

We weren’t the only ones walking CicLAvia, we saw lots of joggers and several marching bands.

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

Plus walking put us at just the right speed to take in all the entertaining elements of the day. Like the costumes!

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

And our Los Angeles Walks mascot Fiona was a star of the street, of course.

Westside WalkLAvia to the SEA!

After five miles of walking, our trek to the sea wouldn’t be complete without a quick dip in the Pacific Ocean! Thanks to warm temperatures and sunny skies it was a perfect day at the beach.

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

We were honored to have the awesome Bob Inman lead the walk. You can join his regular walks throughout LA, including the “prologue” to the Big Parade, coming up on Friday, May 17.

WalkLAvia 4/21/13

While most of the walkers peeled off in Venice, Bob’s walk included a return trip through the beautiful walkstreets and canals of Venice, as well as a few public staircases in Mar Vista. Eight walkers logged an incredible 15 miles during the day!

Check out more photos on our Flickr or over at Facebook (thanks to Bob for some of these great photos)! And yes, we’re definitely planning another outing for the next CicLAvia on June 23—save the date!

Watch this video from WalkLAvia!

Posted on by

As you’ll remember, back in October we organized the first-ever WalkLAvia, a walking parade that strolled down Figueroa during this fall’s CicLAvia. Our friend Ana Haase-Reed happened to shoot some video while we walked and compiled the footage into this beautiful short film of the day. Thanks to Ana for sharing it with us, and thanks to everyone who walked with us. We can’t wait for the next WalkLAvia!

WalkLAvia: everyone walks in LA

Posted on by

We want to thank everyone who joined the WalkLAvia walking parade yesterday at CicLAvia! We had so much fun and hope that you did too! Over 50 people turned out for the parade from downtown Los Angeles to Exposition Park.

As the group made its way down Figueroa Street, we cheered, carried signs and banners, learned about the history and future of the corridor, and greened the side of the roadway with seed bombs. We had a great group of folks! Check out all the event photos here.

WalkLAvia got lots of great media coverage, including a plug from City Councilmember and Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti at Sunday’s CicLAvia press conference, and a reminder from Garcetti that CicLAvia is for walkers, skateboarders, wheelchairs, as well as cyclists. Los Angeles Walks founder Deborah Murphy also had the honor of meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa before WalkLAvia started!
Stay tuned for information on future WalkLAvias and other events like our FREE walking tour of Silver Lake on October 21. We invite you to join us for our next community meeting in Leimert Park on November 15. In the meantime, keep walking!
—Rachel Bennett

Get ready to WalkLAvia this Sunday at CicLAvia!

Posted on by

We’re gearing up for our big WalkLAvia walking parade at this Sunday’s CicLAvia! We’ve got homemade signs, popsicles, seed bombs, giant puppets, bubbles, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, capoeira artists, and more! WalkLAvia got some great media coverage this week, including:

We’ll begin our walk at 8th and Figueroa and walk down to the new Expo Park hub of the CicLAvia route. Safety and fun are our primary concerns, which is why we chose Figueroa—a nice, wide street that can fit our group of walkers as well as passing cyclists. Meet on the northwest corner of 8th and Figueroa at 11:30am (just south of the new Target and one block south of the 7th St/Metro Center Metro stop). The group will depart at noon and should arrive at Expo Park around 2pm. At about 12:15pm at Gil Lindsay Plaza, we’ll hear from Melani Smith of the Meléndrez design firm about the My Figueroa Corridor project, which will make Figueroa more pedestrian friendly and install LA’s first protected bike lanes.

There are multiple Blue Line and Expo Line stops along the route so people can follow our progress on Twitter (@LosAngelesWalks, #WalkLAvia) and meet up with us along the walk. The transit stops are also convenient for folks that would like to join us for the start of the walk and then head back to downtown early.

See you Sunday!

—Rachel Bennett

Reimagining Chinatown’s College Street at CicLAvia this Sunday

Posted on by

Image credit: Candy Chang, I Wish This Was project

In addition to our WalkLAvia group walk from downtown LA to Exposition Park, there are a number of great community events at this Sunday’s CicLAvia, including this one from our friends at Living Streets LA.

Living Streets LA presents “I Wish this Street Was…” an interactive play street that will allow participants and passersby to envision what College Street in Chinatown could be like without cars. On Sunday October 7th, College Street will be transformed into a pedestrian-only street through interactive workshops, public art projects, and imaginative games.
If you would like to volunteer for this event, please email Anna Peccianti at anna.peccianti@gmail.com and specify what time you would be available between 8am-4pm. Living Streets LA is hoping each volunteer can stay for at least two hours.
—Rachel Bennett

WalkLAvia this Sunday at CicLAvia!

Posted on by

Join us this Sunday October 7th as we take to the open streets of CicLAvia on foot! We will do a group walk from downtown LA to beautiful Expo Park, and walkers of all ages are welcome. We’ll have giant puppets, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, seed bombs, capoeira artists, popsicles, bubbles, a history lesson or two, and more!

We’ll begin our walk at 8th and Figueroa and walk down to the new Expo Park hub of the CicLAvia route. Safety and fun are our primary concerns, which is why we chose Figueroa—a nice, wide street that can fit our group of walkers as well as passing cyclists. Meet on the northwest corner of 8th and Figueroa at 11:30am (just south of the new Target and one block south of the 7th St/Metro Center Metro stop). The group will depart at noon and should arrive at Expo Park around 2pm.

There are multiple Blue Line and Expo Line stops along the route so people can follow our progress on Twitter (@LosAngelesWalks, #WalkLAvia) and meet up with us along the walk. The transit stops are also convenient for folks that would like to join us for the start of the walk and then head back to downtown early.

Along the walk, we’ll hear from Melani Smith with the Melendrez design firm about the My Figueroa Corridor Project at Gil Lindsay Plaza around 12:15pm, as well as the history of West Adams and downtown Los Angeles. We’ll end our walk at Expo Park around 2pm. The museums will be open and there’s a lot to explore…

  • California Science Center (open 10am-5pm, free admission to the permanent exhibition galleries) Check out the Ecosystems exhibit, Air and Space exhibits, and more!
  • Natural History Museum (open 9:30am-5pm, admission is $12/adult, $9/student or teen, $5/child, free/child under 2) Check out the new Dinosaur Hall, Animal Meet and Greet, Scavenger Hunt, Butterfly Brooch collection, and more!

There are two Expo Line stops near the end of our walk, so people can hop on the train and head back to downtown or head west and enjoy some of the sights, tastes, and great neighborhoods along the new Expo Line.

We look forward to walking with you on Sunday!

—Rachel Bennett