Hyde Park to get an Open Streets pedestrian festival this summer
Mayor Wu today announced six Open Streets events in Boston, adding Hyde Park to the list of streets that will be shut for several hours as a sort of neighborhood-wide block party.
Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, East Boston and Allston-Brighton will also reprise the one-day events. The city says Newbury Street, as it did last year, will get multiple Open days, with dates to be announced later.
The events feature food trucks, crafts, performances and roaming pedicabs. New this year: Hydrant-based misting/cooling stations.
In Hyde Park, the first Open Streets will run from Hyde Park Avenue down River Street and Fairmount Avenue to Davison Street.
This year's dates, all Sundays:
- May 5 - Dorchester
- June 22 - Roxbury
- July 21 - Jamaica Plain
- Aug. 11 - Hyde Park
- Sept. 15 - East Boston
- Oct. 20 - Allston-Brighton
All will have hours of 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - with roads shut to motorized vehicles between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
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Comments
We can do a lot better than 7
We can do a lot better than 7 hours of one open street once per month for only half the year. The demand is there. When Centre Street is pedestrian only its by far the busiest day of the year in JP. Do it on these streets every sunday April-October and just make Newbury completely pedestrian only. Montreal closes 10 streets 24/7 for multiple months.
Tell them
It is slowly expanding hours and locations but you are right we are nowhere near what some of our peer cities are doing. Tell them you want more.
Montreal
Montreal really is who to look for for this. They started like Boston but have expanded them much more dramatically. That being said Montreal only does this in the summer too.
South of the South End it
South of the South End it becomes harder to shut down a street for the long term since our complete lack of a grid makes it difficult to figure out where the alternate route would be. Harder doesn't mean impossible, but it definitely gives those who want to resist change ample opportunity to do so.
West Roxbury or it doesn't
West Roxbury or it doesn't count. Close Centre St!