Where cars would typically be whizzing down West 29th Street in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, Houston Burrow was enjoying his coffee and reading in a lounge chair set up in the road.
The Edgewater neighborhood resident is a regular at Rising Star Coffee Roasters on the street, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of darting off with his coffee, he could sit and enjoy it outside.
"I've been coming here for like three or four years now, but yeah, having more places to sit is definitely; it's pretty nice to be able to stretch out and enjoy the sun while we have it," said Burrow, who works at NASA Glenn Research Center.
The portion of street between Clinton and Church avenues is temporarily closed for two weeks to test Cleveland's Open Streets program, which aims to promote community engagement and health by prioritizing spaces for pedestrians.
"I am hearing a lot of positive reviews. I like it," said Adriana Marcano, a barista at Rising Star Coffee Roasters on the street. "I think it's very important that we are prioritizing pedestrians over cars."
On the other hand, she is concerned about changes to the neighborhood – including less street parking and new paid parking zones as the city works to implement mobile and "smart" parking measures across city neighborhoods.
"I think the green space would be a great addition, I just think they need to keep workers and residents in mind when it comes to parking situations," Marcano said. "But I'm always for pedestrians over cars any day."
The city has previously tested the idea nearby on Market Avenue, which is now permanently closed to traffic. Joyce Pan Huang, the director of city planning, also points to Downtown's East Fourth Street, which touts a variety of dining and entertainment options, as another success story.
"What we've learned from both Market Ave. and East Fourth Street is that having areas with strong retail or commercial around really helps to amplify the vibrancy of an open street," Huang said. "This open street is a little different because it's right in the middle of a residential area that kind of bridges into a commercial area, so you have more residents bumping into each other and you have the opportunity to a little bit more flexible with the space."
Cleveland's Ward 3, which includes Downtown and Ohio City, had a nearly $50,000 median household income in 2022: almost $20,000 higher than the rest of the city. Huang said the city is currently exploring what Open Streets may look like in other neighborhoods, but she told Ideastream Public Media that they are not yet ready to share those locations or details.
"This is a a really critical way to slow down traffic, and create more places of community resiliency," she said. "So in some of the lower income neighborhoods, for example, where there's less and less opportunity for kind of the casual bump ins: we've seen a lot more vacancy, we've seen a lot more demolition... Kind of going back to the idea that we want connection and look out for one another and make these places become desirable neighborhoods... We're going to be making it unique to that location."
West 29th Street will be closed through Sept. 8.
