Stories

Join us for the last event of the 2023 season, CicLAvia—South LA (Leimert Park <—> Historic South Central) on Sunday, December 3rd, from 9am - 3pm as we transform the streets of Leimert Park, King Estates, Exposition Park, and Historic South Central into a public park for the day.

The South LA area is rich with African American culture, especially in its food, art, and architecture. Here are some of the MANY local gems that will be along the route.

And our friends at Los Angeles Conservancy have designed an interactive scavenger hunt for CicLAvia participants to explore the history surrounding your ride, walk, run, or stroll through historic South L.A. neighborhoods. Stop by any CicLAvia info booth for more information on how to participate. Local Gems marked with an asterisk (*) are part of the challenge and are also open to all visitors throughout the day.

Our 48th event brought us back to where it all started, in the heart of Los Angeles. Our press conference featured many great speakers including Jaime Ortiz, the founder of the Ciclovia movement in Bogotá, Colombia. Jaime stated that he was impressed with, “ … what Angelenos have done throughout the years. It’s an honor to be here today. The spirit of CicLAvia is that anyone who comes is the main actor on this day … nobody is a secondary actor … it is done by the people, for the people.”

In addition to Jaime’s words of praise for CicLAvia in Los Angeles, we also heard from Romel Pascual (CicLAvia Executive Director), Laura Rubio-Cornejo (LADOT GM), Seleta Reynolds (LA Metro Chief Innovation Officer), and Israel Rojas, (CicLAvia Vice-Chair Board of Directors). The speakers thanked and shined light on the many diverse members of the communities this CicLAvia route ventured through. 

In the Fall of 2022, students from Cal State Los Angeles’ Art and Design in the Community class visited CicLAvia at their offices at the LA Cleantech Incubator (LACI) to learn about the work that goes into planning CicLAvia – and for a tour of the design and fabrication facilities at LACI. The students attended CicLAvia—Heart of LA on 10/9/22, with the prompt to think about their favorite places, spaces, and interactions that they observed at CicLAvia that day. 

Join us at CicLAvia—Heart of LA on Sunday, October 15th, from 9am - 4pm as we transform the streets of Chinatown, Little Tokyo, South Park, Mariachi Plaza, and Evergreen into a public park for the day.

The Downtown Los Angeles area and its surrounding neighborhoods are bursting with places to eat, art to see, and architecture to admire. Here are some of the MANY local gems that will be along the route. Use the CicLAvia Interactive Digital Map to plan out your day!

Our second CicLAmini had an amazing turnout! The day kicked off  with remarks by Romel Pascual (CicLAvia Executive Director), LA Councilmember Paul Krekorian (Council District 2), Randall Winston (Deputy Mayor of Public Works), Clare Eberle (LADOT Rep.), and Laura Friedman (Asm. 44th District), alongside her daughter, Rachel. The speakers encouraged us all to celebrate the small, family owned businesses and the talented artists that make up the NoHo Arts District.

We're back for our fifth open street event of 2023, CicLAmini—North Hollywood! Join us on Sunday, September 17, from 9am - 3pm as we transform the streets of North Hollywood (NoHo) into a public park for the day. 

NoHo is known for its commitment to the arts, recreation, and local food. Check out this list of local gems to help plan out your day on and off the CicLAmini route! Special thanks to Council President Paul Krekorian’s Office (CD2) for welcoming all CicLAmini participants to North Hollywood and their support in planning and programming this event!

We're back for our fifth open street event of 2023, CicLAvia—Koreatown meets Hollywood! Join us on Sunday, August 20th, from 9am - 4pm as we transform the streets of Koreatown and Hollywood into a public park for the day. 

Koreatown and Hollywood are ranked 1st and 7th, respectively, in population density in LA County. The area also boasts many places to eat, architecture to admire, and landmarks to see along this route. Check out this list of local gems to help plan out your day.

On Sunday, July 23rd the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) teamed up with CicLAvia for their “✌️enice Blvd!” event!

This event, powered by CicLAvia, focused on the new bicycle infrastructure located on Venice Blvd between National Blvd and Sepulveda Blvd.

With Father’s Day, Juneteenth, and CicLAvia Sunday coinciding, the South LA community and beyond showed up in great spirits for this fun-filled day!

Our 47th event, CicLAvia—South LA (Vermont Ave), kicked off with our amazing panel of speakers: LA County SD2 Supervisor - Holly J. Mitchell, Mayor of LA - Karen Bass, CD8 Councilmember - Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Mayor of Inglewood - James T. Butts, CEO LA Metro - Stephanie Wiggins, LADOT Interim GM - Connie Llanos, CicLAvia Executive Director - Romel Pascual, and CicLAvia Vice-Chair Board of Directors - Israel Rojas. Many spoke on the importance of community, safe streets, and how CicLAvia creates special connections in each host community.

We're back for our fourth event of the year, CicLAvia—South LA (Vermont Ave)! Join us on Sunday, June 18th, from 9am - 4pm as we transform the streets of South LA into a public park for the day. 

Fun Fact: the majority of this route will be on Vermont Ave, one of the longest streets in the city and county of Los Angeles with a length of 23+ miles! 

For this local gems blog, we are excited to highlight some of the Cultural Treasures of South LA. Cultural Treasures of South LA is an asset mapping and activation initiative of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), co-created and implemented in partnership with LA Commons, the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z), Community Coalition, and the University of Southern California (USC)’s Neighborhood Data for Social Change (NDSC) Initiative.