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Newbury Street to be shut to cars for 16 Sundays in a row; thoroughfares in five other neighborhoods to be turned into one-day street festivals this year
By adamg on Tue, 05/02/2023 - 1:49pm
Some street chess during last year's JP Open Streets.
Mayor Wu today announced an expanded "Open Streets" program in which Newbury Street in the Back Bay will be closed to motor vehicles every Sunday between July 2 and Oct. 15 and five streets in other neighborhoods will be shut to cars and trucks for one-day celebrations.
On Sundays, Newbury Street will be closed to motor vehicles between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The Open Streets schedule, with streets being shut to cars between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.:
- Sunday, June 25: Centre Street (Jamaica Plain)
- Saturday, July 15: Blue Hill Ave. (Roxbury)
- Saturday, August 19: Harvard Ave. & Brighton Ave. (Allston-Brighton)
- Sunday, September 17: Dorchester Ave. (Dorchester)
- Sunday, October 15: Meridian Street & Bennington Street (East Boston)
The half-day events will allow local businesses to expand into the street, and to safely make space for music, games, bicycling, community tabling, and more.
Open Streets programming will vary slightly by neighborhood but will include food trucks, kids’ hubs (with face painting, balloon animals, crafts, interactive games, and more), photo installations, exclusive performances and activations, and Pedicabs.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
Fantastic!
Fantastic!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS sort of thing is why I voted for Mayor Wu. Bravo!
Per the city’s website, the
Per the city’s website, the neighborhood Open Streets start at 10am, not 9am.
Nice.
I hope we continue to find ways to do more open-street events in ways that do not totally disrupt traffic. Moody Street in Waltham is a good example: most of it has become outdoor dining all summer long, yet they've done it in a way where traffic can still flow around it (one block is strategically left open). Small sacrifices for big benefits.
Moody St
Unfortunately this summer Moody St will only be closed to traffic on Thu/Fri/Sat. Which stinks because some of us prefer to go out during the week to avoid the weekend crowds.
There should be a way to call
There should be a way to call the pedicabs. It's a problem when someone with mobility issues can't get to or from a destination on one of the closed streets, or a street that connects with it.
Are the businesses cool with this?
I think it's great to shut Newbury every Sunday. Are there businesses that kind of NEED people to arrive by car that will be hurt by this? Seriously, just asking....
Not a new thing
This is happening more often because the lack of car traffic means space for pedestrians and guess who is buying stuff?
This is happening because the businesses want it because the earlier events were a big win. My son's partner works in the area and they said they doubled their sales on the no-car days.
How do the businesses
How do the businesses collectively want something? Were they all polled, and was the result unanimous?
Using only Newbury Street as an example
I would guess it's an absolute boon to businesses there. When I have gone during open streets, it seems like people look at Newbury Street as a destination activity, and the stores are correspondingly filled with shoppers who came to enjoy a stroll. It's a great feeling.
However, I imagine the level of success is circumstance-to-circumstance situation.
Shutting down Allston in August
Is closing down Harvard and Brighton during Allston Christmas really the best idea?
Really??
Not Allston Christmas.
It's almost 2 weeks before.
Not this year
Aug 31 is a Thursday. If you have to move out before September 1, you're going to do it on the previous weekend (Aug 26-27). If you have to move on Aug 26-27 and you can't rent a Uhaul, you're going to move on the weekend before that (Aug 19-20).
I've definitely seen stuff on the curb the weeks before Labor Day because of the limited moving vans spreading out the "holiday", as it were.
I would think that mid-late September would be a lot better (and potentially even have more people attending since students will definitely be back then).
They Should Do It In Late-September
I mean, Allston is lively, but I walked down Harvard a lot as a young'un on an 96 degree weekend summer day with about $4 bucks in my pocket.
I'd rather be at the beach than flipping through used vinyl while it is melting in the sun.
It should be done once BC and BU are back. More fun. More people.
Allston Christmas is not a
Allston Christmas is not a month long event.
Moreover, this is one day for a few hours on a street that is not residential.
That is move in weekend for a
That is move in weekend for a few dorms. Not the best time. I agree in September when students are back would be better.