North East Los Angeles

ArroyoFest

Silence echoed through the Arroyo Seco’s canyon for the first time in 63 years, as more than 3,000 cyclists took to the road at 7 a.m., followed by several thousand walkers who began at 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. from four locations along the historic road. To be ON the Parkway without a car, as so many people later described their experience, was transformative. The feeling of connection – with other people, with nature and with the past – was tremendous. And many felt empowered – “we owned the freeway,” as one cyclist described it – imagining what the Arroyo was once like and what it could be in the future.

As of 2006, there are no plans to hold a second ArroyoFest, due in large part to the expense and complicated nature of coordinating such a large event in three different cities (the route traveled through the juridisctions of the City of Pasadena, City of South Pasadena and City of Los Angeles.) However, we receive regular inquiries and would love to see the three cities decide to host it as an annual event.

To learn more about ArroyoFest, please check out the ArroyoFest website, which is no longer being updated, but contains a wealth of information on the event and the coorridor itself.

Read the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute's final report to the Ford Foundation on ArroyoFest.