Wandering on foot through the streets of Seattle during the recent
snowfalls—literally in the streets, because why not when most
cars are stuck somewhere?—it was hard not to notice the
change.
The cars were humbled. The people were emboldened. The snow was deep
enough that it blurred the point where the curb ends and the car space
begins. It was a rare sight for Seattle, and it was accompanied by a
rare happening. Street life in this city—by which we usually mean
sidewalk life—was finally, actually, street life.
In neighborhoods across town, people stayed out late sledding,
skiing, snowboarding, snowball fighting, or just plain old wandering
down roads that had become soft pedestrian boulevards. It brought to
mind the spontaneous street celebrations after Barack Obama’s election
as president, and made one wonder whether, in addition to its long and
rich culture of street protest, Seattle is developing something
new—a culture of street joy.
It could be just a happy coincidence of exciting events. But if this
culture of street joy is indeed new and indeed happening, it could have
some of its roots in city hall wonkery. Specifically, Mayor Greg
Nickels’s Give Your Car the Summer Off program, announced last year as
an expansion of the city parks department’s already-successful Bicycle
Saturday and Sunday program—which periodically shuts down the
loop in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park, the loop in Seward park, and a
stretch of Lake Washington Boulevard, allowing bikers, skaters, and
pedestrians to use the newly car-free roadways. The mayor’s new Give
Your Car the Summer Off program closed additional stretches on three
different Sundays: 14th Avenue East on Capitol Hill, Rainier Avenue
South near Genesee Park, and Alki Avenue in West Seattle. To the extent
that all of this got many thousands more Seattleites accustomed,
however briefly, to using the streets for purposes other than
commuting, it may well have contributed to the new eagerness to use
streets for celebration.
Same for the current posture of the Seattle police toward street
parties. In both recent instances of unsanctioned street
revelry—the election and the snow—the police, who normally
exist to protect commerce and commuting, ceded the streets to the
celebrants and made it their duty to protect the celebrants during
their temporary takeover of space that isn’t theirs.
It’s messy, of course, this business of joy-ing in the street.
During the snow, there were occasionally heated confrontations between
sledders and drivers. And after the melt, things were literally messy
on many of the party boulevards. On East Denny Way, for example,
cardboard, mattresses, and other sledding materials were left on the
side of the road for others to clean up.
Still, why not build on the better parts of this good thing and
expand the city’s street-closure program? We don’t need to wait for
snow to shut streets down, nor do we need to wait for summer.
Right now, Seattle’s sanctioned street closures are confined to
daytime hours during two months—August and September—and
mostly to streets that are near public parks or beachfront. But other
cities, including New York, have temporarily closed non-parkside
streets to cars in experiments that Seattle claims to be emulating. So
why not do the same here? And why not in months other than the two
warmest months of the year? After all, there are good occasions for
street revelry all year round, and a large number of streets in the
city that are good candidates for temporary reappropriation.
When we asked readers for suggestions on Slog, The Stranger‘s blog,
we received many worthy ideas for new street closures. Ballard Avenue.
Pike Street between 12th Avenue and Broadway. University Way. Portions
of Westlake. Third Avenue. It’s easy to imagine many times, and many
configurations, that would make for an interesting (and, most
importantly, fun) mix of nonvehicular traffic on these and other
streets.
Would the city be game to try?
“If there’s growing willingness and enthusiasm, it certainly fits
with a lot of what we’re trying to do as a city,” said Alex Fryer,
spokesman for Nickels.
Sounds like a good start. 
I like the idea of Pike between 12th and Broadway – especially at night.
6th street in Austin is a lot of fun at night when they close it down. Everyone knows it is happening, so traffic doesn’t get messed with.
15th Avenue in Cap Hill between East Thomas and East Mercer… Smith and Remedy Teas on one end, Liberty and Canterbury on the other, and all manner of other delights in-between.
Hear hear! I live in West Seattle, our car free day on Alki was amazing. And since we’re extra-hilly, plows didn’t get the snow cleared here very quickly, allowing for lots of sledding opportunities. I agree, we shouldn’t wait for freak weather to take back our streets. People should get out of their cars, talk to their neighbors, and have fun instead of being stressed out driving everywhere! 🙂
Quite poetic but still very absurd. “Take back the streets”?The streets were maid for mass transit. If you want to walk freely go to the park and get out of my way “Im fu#ck!n drivin here!”
Hey Eli,
Just wondering what, if any, coverage you guys have done on “the chosen people” bombing women and children in Gaza?
Saw some great footage on NBC Nightly of UN workers discovering a group of children who were klinging to their dead mothers for 4 DAYS while Israeli troops kept UN Aid Workers at bay.
Even the International Red Cross is saying Israel is fucking shit up bad.
Your thoughts?
Oh, wait. You’re writing an article about sledding.
i really like this idea as well, but i hate to be the party pooper and remind you all that streets were built for cars (and maybe bikes).
I have to agree with tedpm. I’m from Minnesota originally and having to endure a week of you winter weather preschoolers attempting to figure out what to do with all this white stuff was quite arduous indeed. Rubber-tipped snow plows!? Is this a city or a psych-ward? You obviously have no idea how to properly behave in a snowstorm. For shame!
Um, claudehopper? Duh. While I also was frustrated with the fairly regularly baffled drivers and the week and a half it took the plows to make many roads passable…
We don’t get snowstorms. Like… ever. This is the first time since I began living here 12 years ago that we’ve had more than a few inches of snow at a time. Of COURSE people don’t know how to drive in it- they haven’t had any practice and many don’t have snow tires or chains. So get off your high horse and mellow out.
The first thing I learned in driver’s ed is that “Driving is a priviledge, not a right.”
Also walking is a form of public transport.
So the streets where “maid” for whatever the city wants them to be use for.
The rubber-tipped snowplow report was bogus. More KING 5 “Jim Forman-style” Seattle weather hype. The biggest problem was a mismanagement of uppity Seattleite expectations. Nobody’s killing WSDOT about closing the passes. It happens, and then you do the best you can with the resources you have. Enough whining already!!!
uh..jack. umm…sledding. gaza. oh wait, eli sounds like a jewish name. go on eli, answer for all the jews! jack-ass
Just a friendly reminder that streets were NOT made, or “maid”, for cars or for transit. When they were first developed in the 19th century, they functioned as shared spaces for whatever the hell could get you around – horses, trolleys,feet, bicycles, etc.
…and another interesting tidbit: The Federal Highway Administration actually has its roots in turn-of-the-century bicycle advocates who wanted better roads to peddle their wheels. Many of the first intercity roads were in part developed for bikes.
I think a permanent weekend closure of certain popular business districts could lead to a more popular destination of folks just looking to walk around on a nice night. Ballard Ave. is one possibility. Could be fun.
Agree! This is awesome!!! Lets shut down the whole city!!!! Screw cars and trucks and goods and services!!!!! Nobody needs to work any more, ever!!!!!! Kumbaya!!!!!!!
I’m going to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort
I’m going to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort.
Much better snow on the slopes than the streets 🙂