Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Long Beach

Long Beach’s Beach Streets Returns – Open Thread

12:11 PM PDT on September 20, 2022

LongBeachize_Ad_Concepts
This article supported by Los Angeles Bicycle Attorney as part of a general sponsorship package. All opinions in the article are that of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of LABA. Click on the ad for more information.

Long Beach's popular Beach Streets is back! Last Saturday, tens of thousands of people - on bike, foot, skate, scooter - took to a temporarily car-free route about four miles long.

Beach Streets festivals have been on hold since the COVID pandemic started; the previous one took place in 2019.

Yesterday's Beach Streets route took place in the eastern portion of Long Beach, from the north end of Cal State University Long Beach to Spring Street. Long Beach used a similar route for their 2017 event. The pleasant, largely tree-lined, flat route is mostly wide arterial streets flanked by suburban housing, the university, and numerous commercial strips. As others have noted, it is a great place to ride, but not all that easy to get to by bike from other parts of Long Beach, including from the city's Metro A Line light rail stations.

The event featured lots of programming: two music stages, DJs, a kids hub, a roller skating area, and more. Many of these were swamped by large crowds. Similar to earlier events, one worthwhile Long Beach open streets feature is that plenty of local businesses set up booths along the route: real estate agents, pet shops, dentists, yoga studios, credit unions, etc.

Beach Streets
Beach Streets University on Bellflower Boulevard
xxxx
Beach Streets Instagrammable inflatable signage
xxx
Cyclists of all ages enjoying car-free streets at Beach Streets. Temporary bicycle parking (on right, unused) was provided at commercial centers.
xxxx
Much of the Beach Streets University route was tree-lined suburban arterial streets
xxx
People on bike, scooter, stroller, and foot at Long Beach's Beach Streets

Readers - how was your experience at last Saturday's Beach Streets?

Find more photos from Saturday's event at the Long Beach Post.

Tip for open streets fans: In just three weeks, CicLAvia returns to its roots with a Sunday October 9 Heart of L.A. route through Boyle Heights, Chinatown, Downtown, and Echo Park - featuring the new Sixth Street Viaduct. And hopefully, Beach Streets will be back in 2023.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Caltrans Readies Guidance for Complete Streets, with a Big Exemption

But somewhere along the way, highway interchanges - roads crossing and going under and over freeways and highways - were exempted from the guidelines

September 29, 2023

Guest Opinion: Ten Years In, CA Active Transportation Program Lays Bare a Tale of Two Agencies

L.A. County needs to embrace physically-protected bikeways, robust traffic calming around schools, and similarly transformative, safety-focused projects

September 29, 2023

Commentary: Let’s Talk About the Real “Fatal Flaw” on Valencia

How many people have to die before professional advocates stop endorsing the Valencia Street "experiment" on people?

September 29, 2023

Friday’s Headlines

Caltrans, we need complete streets everywhere, including at freeway interchanges (or maybe especially there); Public agencies and academics join forces to develop AV standards; Republicans really want to suspend the gas tax; More

September 29, 2023
See all posts