Green Buildings by Day, Car-free Cities by Night
(Click below if you’d like to listen to this post instead of reading!)
My name is Laura Walsh and I have been writing and telling Sustainability Stories since 2007 — when I realized around 2am one morning in early April that my friends, neighbors, and strangers needed to plan and enjoy a “Car-free Day” in Washington, DC.
At the time, this wasn’t something anyone wanted!
I’d been up late watching some “Streetfilms” (absolutely check them out if you haven’t!) jealous of people in a few cities around the world who temporarily changed the way they used their streets and public space.
Dancing in the Street
For a few hours, lots and lots of people would replace a few cars on a few streets and they would be free to…
walk,
bike,
roller-skate,
take city-sponsored fitness classes,
talk,
lounge,
play cards,
have a dance-off,
read books,
stage plays,
picnic,
what have you.
All in public space! People were free to enjoy their cities from the very center and have space to stretch out and breathe.
Yes, please! How do we get this here? How do we get this everywhere?
2am Planning & Green Building
At the time, I spent my days organizing education sessions at the U.S. Green Building Council, in some of the early days of transforming the way we look at the built environment.
We knew we could build buildings better — why weren’t more people doing it?
There wasn’t enough education out there.
So that’s what I helped spread, by working with some of the most brilliant minds in this pioneering field, and setting up opportunities for architects, interior designers, construction managers, etc to learn a new way.
We could, we should, we would build buildings better
We could, we should, we would build better buildings — of all sorts.
Offices, homes, stores, schools, and even whole neighborhoods and cities that were better, safer, and healthier for people inside — and those outside too.
And this new way of building buildings could — and would — change the world.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Maybe you’ve seen these plaques around that say “LEED.”
That means the people undertaking the development (or redevelopment) or design and execution and operation of that building decided to do things a different way.
They considered and planned to protect people and our planet, not just their profits, when pursuing new building projects.
Essential Education
Since this was such a new way of approaching buildings in the United States, education was essential.
And that’s where I came in.
… But not quite yet, because it was still 2am.
And I was still dreaming of a Car-free Day in Washington, DC.
So I quickly fired off an email to 10-12 of my closest friends/colleagues at the US Green Building Council to say we needed to meet and talk about how to make Car-free Day a beautiful, if temporary, reality in our gorgeous city.
Nothing is Impossible
We were already changing the way we built the buildings where people lived and worked and shopped, so why couldn’t we also change the way we used our streets for a single day?
It didn’t seem impossible — nothing did!
If anything, it didn’t seem ambitious enough!
A few of us met in my house in Dupont Circle for our first scheming meeting to bring the project to the larger group.
We knew what we wanted, but not how to get it.
The Story of Possibility
So we decided to tell the story of possibility.
We were used to seeing and experiencing cars on all streets all the time, that’s just the way things were at the time (…but not the way they’d always been, cars are still fairly new to humanity and to cities).
But what could it look and feel like if, for a few hours, a few cars on a few streets, were replaced by lots and lots of people?
If kids could play in the streets without danger? And their parents could let them play without worry?
If you could saunter or strut or speed-walk in the center of the street?
If businesses could enjoy the bounty possible when more people are on foot and can check out their shops, instead of driving by them as they search for free parking spots?
If people could just be.
Think of the possibility!
We did.
Green Buildings by Day, Car-free Cities by Night
So during the day, we worked to transform the built environment, and at night we worked on a presentation telling the story of Car-free successes around the world to send to… someone.
I didn’t have the slightest idea where to go and what to do with our presentation but… crossing bridges and all that.
To make our case even prettier, we recruited a graphic designer who volunteered her substantial skills to beautify our presentation before sending it to, er, The Government of Washington, DC?
You can check out our “Bring International Car-free Day to Washington, DC” presentation here.
La Ciclovía de Bogotá, Colombia
Bogotá, Colombia was the gold standard. They’d been hosting a massive Car-free Day every Sunday since 1995! (They’d started a smaller one in the 1970s but it really grew took hold in ‘95). EVERY SUNDAY.
Every Sunday, the people of Bogotá got to / get to experience 75 miles of streets where they could walk and bike and skate and frolic and I was twitching with jealousy. 75 MILES!
I was an ambitious optimist, but even I wasn’t optimistic enough to think we could pull something like that off in Washington, DC.
I just wanted a teeny tiny slice of the that pie.
Car-free Success in Washington, DC!
Planning Car-free Day became a full-time job that I threw myself into after I got home from my real full-time job.
Dozens of people from all over the city and all walks of life volunteered their time for this objective.
We met with Washington, DC City Councilmembers like Tommy Wells (now the Director of the District Department of Energy) and held a press conference attended by then-Mayor Adrien Fenty and every Council member representing every ward in the city.
They all committed to travel car-free for the day — and they walked the walk!
5,000 people signed our pledge to “go car-free” on September 22, World Car-free Day, and Washington, DC joined dozens of other cities around the world participating in this quest to transform our city for people, at least for one day.
Car-free Day is Not the Solution
I was so excited about Car-free Day but it’s become abundantly clear that it’s not the solution. It’s barely even a solution — unless the problem is “what should we do on September 22?”
Sure, then we can have a car-free day.
Accessible and Sustainable Mobility for All, Now
But what we really need are accessible and sustainable mobility solutions for everyone all of ages, everywhere.
Going car-free in some places — like busy and dense cities and neighborhoods — may be a desirable option but we’re still very far from that in many /most places, especially in the United States.
Transportation is responsible for 27% of our greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and we urgently need to invest in alternatives… yesterday.
Let Everybody Know About Your Sustainable Success
So if you are from a business, a university, a governmental agency, a city that is making this possible, we need to let everybody know.
Let them know that you’re providing amenities to walk or run or kayak or roller skate or take transit… ANYTHING that makes it easier and more appealing for people to travel beyond a single passenger vehicle.
If your business, university, governmental agency, city is located in a place where people can already take any sustainable mode of transit, we need to promote that NOW.
Do people know how to take transit to visit you? You need to tell them today.
Are You Ready to be Part of the Solution?
If you’re ready to be part of a sustainable future, let’s get started telling your sustainable stories today.
