December 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 68

OPEN STREETS

September 24, 2017, saw an estimated 18,000 individuals participate in this
over-the-top event. At a time of national
division and a lack of acceptance, Open
Streets ICT broke through the divide to
unite the community. Stronger bonds
were created by the residents of Wichita;
the business community had a changed
perception of street closures, transportation and bicycle usage; and those that
have a vision for Wichita got a glimpse
of what our city could be. This event also
reenergized the desire to exercise more
and use alternative transportation, which
resulted in an economic impact for
downtown and brought history lessons
to life, along with a new appreciation
and exploration of downtown Wichita.
The Inspiration
The idea of hosting an Open Streets
event in Wichita was inspired by the keynote speaker of the 2015 NRPA Annual
Conference in Las Vegas, Gil Penalosa,
executive director of 8-80 Cities. This

quote from Penalosa helps explain the
motivation and the heart in the event:
" People traffic replaces car traffic, and
streets become 'paved parks' where people of all ages, abilities and social economic, ethnic backgrounds can come
out and improve their mental, physical
and emotional health. " Additional inspiration and support came from trips to
Open Streets conferences in Atlanta and
Portland, where we participated in their
events and pondered the possibilities for
Wichita.
Coming Together
After the inspiration came a call to action. It took a bit of doing to convince the
police that using the streets for bicycles
and people is a good thing. But, eventually, the Wichita Police Department,
along with Wichita Park & Recreation,
Wichita Festivals, ICT Health, Visual
Fusion, Bike Walk Wichita and others, a
coalition of community partners formed
an energized and determined commit-

tee. That committee spearheaded efforts
to promote and educate the community
about the event and raise awareness of
the benefits of Open Streets. It was also
responsible for recruiting volunteers
and for operations during the day of the
event.
Sponsorships were established, and
a grant from the Wichita Community
Foundation, which funneled funding
from the Knight Foundation, was the
spark to begin planning efforts. Humana
Health provided the much-needed cash
to help with execution, and other sponsors, such as KAKE-TV, KMUW radio,
Dr. Justin Moore and Wichita Screen
Printing, also joined in with promotional
support and funding.
Selling the idea of an event that nobody had tried before in Wichita was a
challenge. The city has a very car-centric
culture and the thought of using a street
for people and not cars was counterintuitive. For two years, the committee
and sponsors worked together to put in
place the needed logistics and support
- an accomplishment, in and of itself,
as committee members came from diff
ferent backgrounds and experiences, and
with differing talents and visions. Many
of them had never met prior to this en
endeavor and had to develop relationships
while tackling a huge event. Another unexpected outcome of this event was the
friendships that grew out of this partnership. During the many hours of meetings
to plan the event and create a stronger
Wichita, this coalition of volunteers,
community leaders, activists and visionaries became unified around the philosophy of Open Streets ICT, expressed in
the following mission statement:
Open Streets ICT is designed to elevate
the quality of life and health of the Greater
Wichita community. It will become a public
safe space to promote the interaction of local

A mural on a business in Wichita pays tribute to the city's aviation history.
66

Parks & Recreation

| D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

December 2017 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2017 - Parks & Recreation