5 Lessons from the Growing Open Streets Movement

Mike Lydon checks in on the state of open streets events around the world—with three new cities (Bangalore, India; Cape Town, South Africa; and Peterborough, Ontario) joining a roster of hundreds that are participating in a trend that actually got its start in Seattle in 1965.

To check in with the growing trend, and anticipate the upcoming 2015 National Open Streets Summit, Lydon provides a list of five trends "currently impacting open streets."

The list of trends also reads like a list of best practices for cities looking to commence with open streets events or build on past efforts.

The five trends include:

• "Test Before You Invest" - Lydon here discusses cities like Los Angeles and Minneapolis, which have presented new streetscape and urban design features during open streets events. "Renderings in reall-time," Lydon calls it.
• "Small Cities Do It Too" - Lydon notes that open streets events are becoming popular in smaller cities and suburbs, like Immokalee, FL (pop. 24,154); Wilsonville, OR (pop. 21,484); Buffalo, MN (pop. 15,825); and Decorah, Iowa (pop. 8,089).