The beautiful metropolitan city of Bogotá, Colombia is celebrating its 472nd birthday this weekend. Transit Miami celebrates Bogota as a modern model for implementing livable streets and communities through effective planning, citizen engagement, progressive infrastructure and continued investment in a more sustainable city. From transit to common sense governance, Bogota has transformed itself in the last quarter century into one of the world’s great cities.
All day today, August 6, 2010, the local government and city residents are throwing parties across this massive capital, including three “Fiestas Interlocales de Amor por Bogotá.” 2010 is a big year for all Colombians, as it is the Bicentennial of their Independence. Nurturing this kind of civic pride is an important way to promote respect for one’s city and neighbors. It directly improves quality of life, stimulates local business and fosters the kind of neighbor-to-neighbor interactions that reduce crime.
The city and its residents understand this, which is one reason Bogotá continue to be a model for ciclovias worldwide. Every Sunday and every holiday, the city connects its richest and poorest neighborhoods through the opening miles of urban streets exclusively to non-motorized traffic. People of all ages come to walk or bicycle around, exercise and shop, play and just hang out.
I’m proud that the City of Miami is also an important leader in promoting ciclovias, or open streets as they are increasingly known in the United States and Canada. The City of Miami Bicycle Action Committee, the Open Streets Project, Emerge Miami and the South Florida Bike Coalition are just some of the leadership working to return Bike Miami Days to Downtown this October.
TransitMiami.com wishes all Bogotans in Colombia and right here in Miami a very happy birthday weekend.
Any Given Sunday in Bogotá, photo by me.
You can learn more about Colombian history in Miami (Did you know that Colombians represent the largest and oldest South American community in Miami, with a population of well over 100,000?”) by visiting the Historical Museum of Southern Florida Colombia page here or dropping by any local Colombian restaurant and just asking questions.
Happy Birthday, Bogotá!
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