Circle the City

Circle The City: Open Streets, Open Parks

Circle The City (CTC) is Boston’s Open Streets initiative that connects people to parks. In Summer 2012, CTC drew an estimated 6,500 participants of all ages from across Boston out of their homes and cars and onto safe, car-free streets for the opportunity to walk, bike, roll, dance and play together. The launch of CTC demonstrated that there is a broad appetite for getting out, active and connected in our communities by using our streets in a new way. CTC features free activities for all ages that promote healthy, active living and celebrate the neighborhoods, parks and businesses of Boston.

Why Open Streets in Boston? Circle The City:
1. Builds community and supports local business.
2. Re-imagines the city street as a place for people.
3. Promotes safe physical activity and healthy lifestyles for all.
4. Gets people of all ages outside and connected to our parks.
5. Furthers the City’s goals for a healthy, vibrant, livable Boston.

Streets for people
CTC offers a view of our city from a different perspective — re-imagining our streets as space for people. With community building as a primary goal, CTC encourages family fun and promotes safe outdoor physical activity for all ages. There are over 80 documented Open Streets projects in the U.S. alone that are sparking discussion around the role of streets and this way to engage new audiences in existing, but temporarily transformed, public space. Circle The City is not a parade, nor is it a race. Rather it is a unique opportunity to safely enjoy the streets and explore new neighborhoods and parks.

Announcing Circle The City 2013! Open Streets returns to Boston with two new and exciting locations on signature corridors of our city:
1. July 14th, 11am-4pm: Circle The City and the Fenway Alliance present: Open Streets on the Avenue of the Arts. Circle The City joins The Fenway Alliance for Open Streets on Huntington Avenue. The festival will be moving between Belvidere Street and Brigham Circle on the outbound side of Huntington, connecting to the Back Bay Fens and the Southwest Corridor and featuring many of the institutions along the way.
2. September 29th, 11am-4pm: Circle The City presents: Open Streets on Blue Hill Avenue. Circle The City and the Sustainability Guild highlight Blue Hill Avenue neighborhoods, organizations and community greening projects with a car-free corridor connecting Franklin Park to Dudley Common at Dudley Street.

We are currently engaged in community discussions around the details for CTC 2013. Please check back often for updates on traffic impacts, activities, performances and community partners.

There are multiple ways to get involved with Circle The City! Click below for 2013 opportunities to:
1. VOLUNTEER
2. Be a SPONSOR
3. OFFER AN ACTIVITY OR PROGRAM
4. Be a VENDOR

Circle The City will have a festival-like atmosphere featuring safe, car-free public space to walk, bike, roll and dance. Circle The City activities will include live performances, outdoor fitness, dance and yoga classes, Farmer’s Markets, bike clinics, children’s activities, culinary demonstrations, roller skating, hula hooping, and countless other opportunities to have fun on the streets and in the parks.

Everyone! Circle The City offers free and fun space for physical activity and community gathering to all residents and visitors to Boston, and creates improved accessibility to parks and open space. Local businesses will also benefit from increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic along commercial corridors. The events provide a model of how cities can provide healthy, environmentally friendly outdoor activities for their residents while boosting the local economy.

Circle The City is FREE to participants of all ages. Some will enjoy the route by strolling, skating, cycling, or just people-watching. Others will participate in free group events such as yoga, aerobics, dance, farmer’s markets and other activities. These group events will be spaced out along the route. No registration required!

Circle The City will be held on Sundays and is planned to ensure that people have alternative travel routes. Our dates have been researched to account for conflicts with other large Boston events. We are doing our best to meet with neighborhood and business representatives to encourage engagement and ensure all are informed. Please check back closer to our dates for detailed information on street closures and alternate routes.

Additionally, the routes will allow cross traffic at a limited number of points along the street closure for neighbors to have the ability to conduct their Sunday business. This type of closure has worked very well in past CTC events and in many other cities around the world. Traffic will be monitored so that any traffic impacts can be measured.