Conditions could hardly have been better for Saturday's Summer Streets debut, and New Yorkers responded, turning out in droves to enjoy a car-free route from Lower Manhattan to Central Park. Of course, Clarence Eckerson was on hand to capture this historic livable streets event for Streetfilms. He offers this testimonial:

We'll spare you the 200 adjectives we could list about how transformational it was, for it was beyond anything on the printed page. The general consensus was that the event succeeded beyond even the most hoped for expectations and would pass even the most pessimistic of measuring sticks. A page has been turned, clearly there is no doubt: the future will hold many more large scale street openings for pedestrians, cyclists, runners, children, dog walkers, dancers, and any other reasonable livable space use.

If you missed it this week, take heart: early forecasts for Saturday call for partly cloudy skies with a high in the mid-80s.

Well, almost over. It's been two and a half months since we first heard that some sort of Ciclovia-style event was coming to New York. Tomorrow, Summer Streets will finally be upon us. To build up the anticipation just a bit more, we're re-posting this classic from the Streetfilms archive.

The spectacle of a 6.9-mile car-free route in the middle of Manhattan should make for a banner street photography day. To our New York readers who plan to bring cameras to the event: Upload your shots to Flickr and tag them "streetsblog" -- we'll highlight the best next week. You can also drop us a line at tips@streetsblog.org if you've got a Summer Streets story or experience you want to tell us about. Don't hold back.

Here are a few key points of information from the official Summer Streets website:

This is a threat to Barack Obama's security?

You can just see the planning meeting for what organizers are calling the "greenest" national political convention ever. Special perks for hybrids? Check. Biofuel powered buses? Check. Solar powered green area? Check. Bike racks? Nope. Sorry, the Secret Service says they're too dangerous.

The Colorado Independent reports that there will be no bikes allowed within the DNC perimeter of the Pepsi Center, nor at Invesco Field, where Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech. Convention organizers cite the Secret Service and the Denver Police Department as making all security-related mandates.

Meanwhile, national advocacy group Bikes Belong has arranged for 1,000 bicycles to be available during the convention week for free to anyone with I.D. and a credit card.

One can't help but wonder if the crackdown on Critical Mass at the 2004 Republican National Convention had anything to do with the Secret Service's view that bicycles represent a security threat. Before the last RNC, officials tried and failed to get Critical Mass banned during the convention. When the ride took place and attracted 5,000 riders, 250 of them ended up in jail.

Photo: blkmarket/Flickr

Think web sites are saturated with car ads? The internet's got nothing on local TV.

The graphic on the right comes from a recent Wall Street Journal article (preview only) on car makers' attempts to curb their advertising budgets. The amount of money pouring into the media from the auto industry is staggering. Analysts predict that spending on car ads will total $15 billion this year (the good news: it peaked at $24 billion in 2004). Declining or not, these ad dollars deliver an indispensable chunk of revenue across the media spectrum.

The most car-dependent media formats are the local type, especially TV stations. And who else is going to cover stories on pedestrian improvements, bicycle infrastructure, Summer Streets, or -- I dunno -- congestion pricing? Imagine if bike companies and transit providers could sink billions into local media markets, or conversely, if car makers spent next to nothing... how different would transportation coverage be?

Via Smart Growth America, I'm finally catching up to this great little story in last month's Baltimore Sun about all of the Orioles players who are commuting to the ballpark by bike these days:

Fans are accustomed to the players' lot being filled with expensive rides -- sports cars, HUVs, private jets. But you should check out the clubhouse sometime, or the weight room. There are enough bikes parked there to hold the Tour de France. I keep waiting for players to change into yellow jerseys, though that honor probably should be delayed until they're in first place.

At last count, the cyclists include Guthrie, Luke Scott, Aubrey Huff, Brian Burres, Garrett Olson and Lance Cormier. Nick Markakis dropped out after buying a house in Monkton.

Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie rides to Camden Yards six days a week during long homestands (on Sundays his wife drops him off after church). Here's how he sees it:

"There are some side benefits," Guthrie said. "It's the overall idea of being outside and exercising instead of driving. I hate cars, I hate driving, I hate doing something I don't have to do. For me to drive downtown is a waste of gas; it's a waste of my time. I can ride faster than I can drive."

Granted, he doesn't yet wield the star power of Ford Mustang salesman Derek Jeter or Cadillac Escalade salesman Tiki Barber, but Guthrie's showing he's got the potential to be a force in the big leagues. Trek, Breezer, Specialized: Why not sign this guy up as a spokesman? And don't forget New York Rangers center Sean Avery while you're at it.

Not to jinx the big day, but a higher authority seems to be smiling on the city's first Summer Streets event. Bike riders, walkers, salsa dancers, and hopscotch players can look forward to a balmy mid-70s morning, according to the latest weather report.

If you're biking in, Transportation Alternatives still has spaces available for its feeder rides, especially the ones departing from Astoria and Bed Stuy. Check here for details on where to go and how to RSVP. 

Graphic: Weather.com

The City's official Summer Streets web site and press release hit our inbox this morning. Jay-Z is joining Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in inviting New Yorkers to hit seven miles worth of car-free streets in Manhattan this Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bringing it back full circle to Bogotá's Ciclovia, Juan Valdez 100% Colombian coffee is going in as a sponsor.

As in Bogotá and Paris, it looks like the City is making a serious effort to program the event. Organized activities will include bike classes for kids and adults, aikido, salsa dancing, tai-chi, running, rollerblading and hopscotch. Bloomberg is pitching the event as a test run. "We're going to embark on a grand experiment that could dramatically alter the way we use and look at the streets of New York," Bloomberg said in the City's press release. "If the program works, we'll strongly consider doing it again; maybe we'll try it in other parts of the city. If it doesn't work, we won't, but we can't be afraid to find out."

And on that note, let the bitching and moaning about imaginary traffic tie-ups, lack of community input, hidden real estate developer agendas and hippy/yuppie cyclists commence!

There are lots more details, including locations of rest stops, events and free bike helmet give-aways in the City's presser...

Today Transportation Alternatives released "Streets to Live By" [PDF], the report previewed last week in the Observer. It seeks to define what makes a street livable and to synthesize a broad range of data, culled from numerous cities, on the effects of policies that put pedestrians first.

This doc is a big one, and we're still sifting through it. An early impression: The evidence gathered here related to economic development, health, and social wellbeing suggests that a number of city agencies should be shepherded into the livable streets fold. From the report's recommendations:

Improvements that support livable streets, whether through new construction, street rebuilding or zoning amendments, should be the standard. Coordination and creative problem solving between these agencies, including the Department of City Planning (DCP), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department of Design and Construction (DDC), Economic Development Corporation (EDC), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and Department of Sanitation (DOS) would be best led by the DOT and the Mayor’s Office of Planning and Sustainability.

The report also names the Department of Health and the Department of Small Business Services as agencies that can forge stronger ties to a livable streets agenda, and calls for a livable streets training program aimed at the city's community boards. "We recognize that the jurisdiction of each agency only goes so far," says T.A.'s Shin-pei Tsay, "and we hope there can be greater collaboration between them."

When Barack Obama gave his big energy speech on Monday, his campaign released an eight-page fact sheet [PDF] to go with it. All the way at the end, at the very bottom of the last page -- after the parts about plug-in electric vehicles, oil shale, and clean coal technology -- there's this paragraph:

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Over the long term, we know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land use decisions and development patterns. For the last 100 years, our communities have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline. Barack Obama believes that we must devote substantial resources to repairing our roads and bridges. He also believes that we must devote significantly more attention to investments that will make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. Obama is committed to reforming the federal transportation funding and leveling employer incentives for driving and public transit.

It's something, but not exactly a compelling pitch (not to mention that the "roads and bridges" bit reads like a sop to the highway lobby).

On the stump, meanwhile, the candidate continues to make an engaging case for high-speed rail, especially in the midwest. Air travel, apparently, is not much of a sacred cow compared to driving and big lawns. Via Trains for America, here's an excerpt from a recent speech Obama delivered in Ohio:

With New York's big Summer Streets premier less than 72 hours away, this week we're highlighting the StreetsWiki entry on the mother of all car-free events, Bogotá's Ciclovía. Actually, the phrase "car-free event" doesn't quite do justice to a weekly gathering of a million people along 70 miles of streets. And as the authors note, much more goes on at Ciclovía than the name alone implies:

­Bikes dominate the name and the landscape of Ciclovia, but there is a lot more to it than that. Ciclovi­a days in Bogota are combined with Recreovi­a (pictured at right), a program of free public exercise activities in parks and other car-free areas.[7] Activities include dancing, yoga, and aerobics, led by professionals who are paid by the city and accompanied by festive music.

It also provides tremendous business to vendors who serve Ciclovi­a participants.[1]

Credit for this entry goes to Meg Saggese, Lily Bernheimer, Corey Burger, Nathan Schneider, and Paul Cone. Feel free to get in there and edit, if you'd like.

On a related note, I've noticed an uptick in user-submitted entries on StreetsWiki lately. Thanks for depositing your knowledge with the Livable Streets Network, Streetsbloggers. Keep it coming and watch for your contributions on Wiki Wednesdays.

Planning to bike into Manhattan for Saturday's landmark Summer Streets event? Transportation Alternatives can help everything go smoothly. They're running feeder rides from three locations in Brooklyn and Queens (a Bronx ride is scheduled for the next Saturday). All the rides this week start at 9 a.m. To participate you should RSVP. Here's the details:

The rides will be great for cyclists of all ages and riding abilities. To participate, send your full name and the neighborhood of the ride you wish to do to summerstreets [at] transalt [dot] org or call 212.629.8080. Riders will receive a special gift when they stop by the T.A. tables at Summer Streets.

Astoria
Meet up in Astoria Park in front of the World War I Memorial along Shore Boulevard

Bedford-Stuyvesant
Meet up in Tompkins Park, located at 254 Tompkins Avenue (between Greene Avenue and Lafayette Avenue

Park Slope
Meet at Grand Army Plaza (at the entrance to Prospect Park)

UPDATE: T.A. sends word that another feeder ride will depart at 10 a.m. from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Upper West Side (89th and Riverside Drive).

You can also RSVP for feeder rides on the 16th and 23rd. Starting times and locations after the jump.