Building on the success and the experiences of Open Streets 704, Mecklenburg County Public Health, Park and Recreation, the City of Charlotte, and Partners for Parks rolled out a more intimate and neighborhood-centric pilot program called Play Streets 704. The new program is designed to give neighbors the concepts, resources, and eventually, the tools, to host their own “right-sized,” activity-based block parties.
Hundreds of folks from the Hidden Valley community came out to connect play and have fun. A Learn to Ride event was a huge success, and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation came out and pulled it all together with the Meck Rec and Roll van. There were hula hoops, hopscotch, basketball, and games and activities for everyone.
“It was a wonderful combination of what the neighborhood had planned, and what we wanted to do along with them,” said Partners for Parks treasurer, Al Brown. “It helped us learn about what we can do to make that kind of recreation accessible at a neighborhood level.”
Unfortunately, the event had to be called off early due to the weather, but as a first-time pilot program it was a real hit, said Mecklenburg County Public Health’s Clint Grant. His department’s leadership brought the Play Streets program to life – and into the neighborhood – recognizing the opportunity to help people connect, engage, and be active after the isolation of the last several years. The community and the school have already asked that Play Streets 704 come back to their neighborhood!
“Play Streets doesn’t happen without the early success of Open Streets 704 and the participation of all our partners,” added Grant. “It set the stage for opportunities like this, where we streets can serve as connectors rather than dividers… where we can transform streets and neighborhoods to be more people-focused places even for the day.”
The larger, public Open Streets 704 events attracted tens of thousands of people at two annual events. Pulling off those events required long-range planning, small armies of volunteers, staff time from participating partners, and expenses for permits, public safety, and promotion. The Play Streets 704 events will eventually be smaller, community-driven and neighborhood-level.
“It really was a wonderful opportunity to partner with the neighbors in Hidden Valley,” finished Brown. “A lot of kids learned how to ride bikes, there were trike races, and the neighbors really seemed to enjoy it all.”
A second Play Streets pilot event is in the works, possibly as early this summer. From there, Grant said an application process will be refined so that neighbors can access resources to host their own Play Streets-style events.
Learn more about it here: http://openstreets704.com/playstreets/
