Announcing Our Fall 2024 Cyclovia Route
Living Streets Alliance is thrilled to announce the route for the next Cyclovia Tucson event which will take place on Sunday, October 27, 2024. The event will return to a favorite and frequent route, once again connecting vibrant communities in South Tucson and Downtown Tucson from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
After a hiatus this spring, we are so excited to get back to dancing in the streets! We'e grateful to our supporters and partners for their patience while we get our ducks in a row in order to make Arizona's biggest block party happen. Read the full announcement on our website.
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Celebrate Cyclovia's 21st Birthday!
Speaking of Cyclovia... it's our 21st event! Last week we kicked off a 21-day fundraiser to support open streets in Tucson and ensure Cyclovia Tucson continues well into adulthood.
Score your very own limited-edition drink koozie (pictured above) when you donate $21 or more in support of Cyclovia during our Cyclovia Turns 21 fundraiser, now through August 29th.
Even better, you can pick up your koozie and put it to use on Thursday, August 29th at our Cyclovia Turns 21 Happy Hour at Pueblo Vida. They’ll donate a percentage of proceeds to Living Streets Alliance so we can keep on bringing you Cyclovia multiple times a year.
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Photo by Momta Popat
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Frustrated that driving to school feels like the only option?
Does seeing your child walk along a line of hot cars spewing emissions make you worry about their lungs? Are you concerned with how little time your kids spend outside each day? Do you worry about the safety risks associated with all the car traffic around the school?
It doesn't have to be this way! Here at Living Streets Alliance we partner with schools to empower families to opt out of the endless car lines, learn how to travel in their neighborhoods safely on foot and bike, get kids moving outside, and even learn how a bike works.
Read a roundup of our Safe Routes to Schools Program offerings and find out how we help find creative ways to get kids to school safely without needing a car!
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Cyclovia Turns 21!
Happy Hour at Pueblo Vida
Thursday, August 29, 2024
5:00-7:00 PM
115 E Broadway Blvd
Cyclovia is turning 21 and we want to celebrate this coming-of-age milestone with you! Bring your friends and colleagues and join us for a fun evening of good beer and good company, all in support of the open streets event we love so much. Cheers to Cyclovia!
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Ice Cream Social
Free ice cream + Free bike repair
Thursday, September 5, 2024
5:00 - 7:00 PM
El Parque de San Cosme
530 W Simpson St
Movie in the Park
Free food + Free bike repair
Saturday, September 7, 2024
5:30 - 9:00 PM
David G. Herrera and Ramon Quiroz Park
600 W St Marys Rd
Movie screening ("Elemental") starts at 7:00 PM - Bring a picnic & a blanket or a chair and enjoy the evening!
The El Paso & Southwestern Greenway is a bicycle and pedestrian multi-use path which will eventually extend six miles, providing access to 26 parks, 10 schools, and two libraries. Some portions of the Greenway have already been constructed and the City of Tucson is currently working on the initial design of the section between Cushing St to St Marys Rd.
We'll be supporting the City with two family-friendly community engagement events in early September. If you walk, bike, roll, or live in the project area, join us to learn more about the proposed improvements and share your thoughts with the City of Tucson project team!
More info about the project is available at this link.
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Radically Redesign Tucson's Streets
How do you envision our major streets shaping up over the next 5, 10, 20 years?
Many of the recent City of Tucson plans and policies—like Plan Tucson, Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, and the Complete Streets Policy—have put forward a vision (a vision YOU helped shape) for creating more mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, infill development, but we keep witnessing the opposite popping up along our major streets: more drive-throughs, more shopping malls with giant parking lots, and barely any housing.
That's because our current zoning codes favor car-centric designs and discourage buildings that promote transit and walking. These codes are the ones that can either facilitate or hinder mixed-use buildings (like how people can live above small businesses) and determine if we can have different types of housing built (like town homes or duplexes) near transit lines. Our zoning regulations make it difficult to build new housing exacerbating our housing affordability crisis.
The City of Tucson Planning and Development Services Department is trying to fix that and they want to hear from you! Share your feedback before the survey closes and voice your support for more walkable and transit-friendly streets and more housing opportunities.
P.S. If you have time, the recording of last week’s public meeting would be a good watch for more background and context.
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Get Ready for National Week Without Driving 2024
Last year was the inaugural National Week Without Driving! The Week Without Driving challenge was created by Disability Rights Washington so that policy makers, elected leaders and transportation professionals can begin to understand the barriers nondrivers experience in accessing their communities.
The challenge isn't about not using a car, rather it's to see what it's like to not be the one able to drive, to better understand what it’s like to try to navigate their communities without the privilege of driving. We were inspired to see so many people embrace this challenge and can't wait to feel that again this year.
Check out what we did last year and, if you drive every day, get ready to take on this challenge. We'll be cheering you on!
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Share Your Thoughts About PAG's Regional Active Transportation Plan
Pima Association of Governments (PAG), the greater Tucson region’s metropolitan planning organization, is developing a Regional Active Transportation Plan which will develop a vision for active transportation in our region, in addition to identifying preferred design treatments and priorities for investments.
There is a website with information about the plan and an interactive map that you can use to suggest bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects, call attention to safety and accessibility concerns, and identify good examples of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The map also includes a survey about the vision for active transportation in our region.
Share your feedback before the survey closes and let PAG know what safe, comfortable, and inviting "active transportation" infrastructure can look like!
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USDOT Warns Congress That Americans Need to Drive Less to Survive Climate Change
"The U.S. will not be able to decarbonize the transportation sector without addressing increased demand," a recent DOT report wrote. So why are so few transportation leaders doing it?
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What Adults Lost When Kids Stopped Playing in the Street
With converging crises in mental health, physical health, and climate change, children are poised to bear the brunt of the effects of a car-centric society. Already, children find themselves inside most of the day and parents at their wits end managing restless energy. In many ways, a world built for cars has made life so much harder for grown-ups.
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What If We Kept Our Cars Parked for Trips Less Than One Mile?
What could be saved by leaving the car parked at home for some short trips? We save money because on the gas and car maintenance by not driving so often. We could potentially save in health care costs by moving our bodies more often. These are just a couple of individual benefits from keeping the car at home for short trips. What if we all chose to walk or bike for just half of our car trips of under a mile?
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