Open Streets ICT
Posted on October 8, 2018 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Just a few pictures from Open Streets ICT a few weeks ago… But first, what is it exactly? Open Streets ICT is a FREE community-building event that closes a Douglas Avenue to traffic and opens it for biking, walking, running, dancing, yoga, and more! Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, and to stop at the local businesses, restaurants, and street vendors along the four-mile stretch.
We started our day with breakfast at our usual place, Dempsey’s Biscuit Co, which also happens to be along the route.
Here are some pictures of our delicious breakfast.
We decided meet up for breakfast later than usual. Normally we go when Dempsey’s Biscuit Co first opens at nine o’clock but decided to go later that day so we could move right into Open Streets ICT mode. We didn’t think of the street being blocked because the official street closing was advertised from noon to five o’clock in the afternoon. However, they started closing the streets earlier that day and our cars almost got trapped in the Dempsey’s Biscuit Co parking lot (except for Jeff who planned ahead and arrived on his bike). Good thing Brian knew his way around the neighborhood.
After breakfast Brian and I took off and parked our car in my work parking lot. My office building is a long the route and right in the thick of the action.
We also purposely planned it this way because there’s a Bike Share ICT station right outside my office and our plan was to use my promo code for 2 hours of FREE bike rental. You can cover more ground and you get to see so much more by biking rather than being on foot.
We ran into one of Brian’s Edward Jones coworkers, Brandi. She had a tent along the path, right by the Alzheimer’s Association office.
There was FREE outdoor yoga on Douglas and Pattie.
There were lots of people walking and biking and there were vendors everywhere.
They even had sections of street blocked off for games such as pickle ball.
We would have taken more pictures but it was difficult to do so while riding the bikes. We only took photos at stops along the way. And, we didn’t really have enough time to see everything because we had to set aside enough time to get out of downtown so I could make it back to Andover for my two o’clock Zumba class.
There were four main hubs with lots of activities besides what’s pictured above. The City of Wichita even had a dunk tank featuring Mayor Jeff Longwell. There was also plenty to do in between hubs.
Though we missed the event last year because we just couldn’t squeeze it into our busy schedule, we heard it was a huge success so we did our best to squeeze it in this year. Next year I may have to sub out my Zumba class because I didn’t feel like we had enough time to take it all in.
Anyway, Open Streets ICT is one of those events/initiatives that we hope the city continues year after year because it’s a huge hit and people love it.
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