FAQs
WHEN WILL ¡Viva! Streets happen again?
In early January, the Downtown Denver Partnership announced that ¡Viva! Streets will pause in 2024, with a focus on a 2025 return.
Why is ¡Viva! Streets pausing in 2024?
¡Viva! Streets helped us think about our downtown streets differently and connect with our neighbors in a new way. While incredibly impactful, this event series is also resource-intensive and requires strong collaboration across partner organizations including City agencies and Denver Police Department to successfully implement.
After in-depth analysis and collaboration with partners, it was determined that the resources needed to implement a large-scale road closure that meets the vision of ¡Viva! Streets with the same community benefit we saw in 2023 are not available at this time.
Why host ¡Viva! Streets?
Connecting People and Neighborhoods
¡Viva! Streets is open to people of all ages and encourages all kinds of non-motorized modes of transportation. City-goers can experience the rich diversity of our urban neighborhoods in an exciting new way – car free! Denverites can come together and celebrate the people, businesses and places that make our city so special.
Creating an Out-of-Car Experience
We’re excited for ¡Viva! Streets participants to not only to experience the joys of being car-free, but to also discover new places and pockets of town along the way.
Initially introduced in Bogota, Colombia in 1974, these car-free events became increasingly popular in major urban centers across South and Latin America; today, there are more than 400 cities in nearly 30 countries that put on similar events!
Supporting Local Businesses
Exploring our city on two wheels or on foot is the perfect opportunity to discover your new favorite retail store, coffee shop or restaurant. Our goal is to engage our local businesses and community organizations in ¡Viva! Streets in a way that supports their goals and amplifies their impact.
¡Viva! Streets will take the best ideas from similar events in other cities and customize them for our unique center city. We’re excited for the positive impact this will bring to the hundreds of unique local businesses along the route.
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LA’s CicLAvia brought positive economic impact to the businesses along the route.
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In past years, businesses along the corridor have seen a 10% increase in sales the day of the event.
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Businesses that were active participants in CicLAvia saw an average increase in sales of 57%.
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Promoting a Healthier Denver
¡Viva! Streets is a celebration of our active, healthy Colorado lifestyle.
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Activations like ¡Viva! Streets are proven to dramatically impact public health and air quality.
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From CicLAvia 2014:
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Particulate Matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller declined by 49% on route.
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Ultrafine Particles reduced by 21% on CicLAvia streets.
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Particulate Matter reduced by 12% on streets off-route (still open to traffic).
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“The reduction of air pollutant concentrations is especially beneficial to the large number of event participants who rode their bicycles along the route, because their respiration rates were much higher than that of the pedestrians,” said Shi Shu, a postdoctoral researcher at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and the study’s lead investigator. “CicLAvia events should be held more frequently in the future.”
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According to a new study published in Environmental Pollution by UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, CicLAvia significantly cuts down on air pollution along the closed-off route—and even on streets beyond it.
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What is the history behind ¡Viva! Streets?
¡Viva! Streets Pays homage to Ciclovia’s Colombian roots, bringing together the community through various modes of non-motorized transportation and local vendors, cuisine, arts and music. Initially introduced in Bogota, Colombia in 1974, similar events became increasingly popular in major urban centers across South and Latin America and have spread across the globe – today, there are more than 400 cities in nearly 30 countries that put on similar events.
Some cities, such as Mexico City and Paris, offer robust versions of these activations and close large segments of city streets every Sunday throughout the year. These large-scale, open-street activations have provided decades of education around cycling and carless transportation for people around the world, and we’re excited for Denver to join in this exciting urban phenomenon.
How can I get involved in ¡Viva! Streets?
¡Viva! Streets is actively seeking volunteers, local business participants, and sponsors. More information can be found here.