Greg Cantori wants to get into the Colombian import business and bring his product to the streets of Baltimore.
No, Cantori isn't a character on The Wire. Nor is he risking a federal drug rap. He's president of One Less Car - a group that advocates for better infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians.
What he'd like to import is a concept called ciclovia - a weekly festival on the streets of Bogota. He and his colleagues have been meeting with city officials, urging them to bring the idea to Baltimore under the Americanized name "Sunday Streets." Cantori told the Maryland Bicycle Symposium meeting in Annapolis last week that the initial response has been encouraging.
It seems that in Bogota, the city opens up about 70 miles of city streets to foot and bike traffic each Sunday - encouraging people to stroll, pedal, set up food or retail stalls and to generally enjoy themselves on the city streets. Cantori would like to see Baltimore adopt the idea on a scaled-down basis, maybe six months out of the year.
"Imagine Artscape every Sunday, spread out over 20 miles," Cantori said. "It becomes an extension of the park system."
Unlike a typical Baltimore parade, he explained, intersections of crossing streets are not closed down. Local vehicle traffic and parking are permitted, but the cars must operate with flashers on and at speeds of 5 to 10 mph. People have priority.
The ciclovia - Spanish for "bike path" - has been a civic institution in Bogota, a city of 7 million, for more than 30 years. Between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. each Sunday, the city closes all but one lane of traffic on many broad boulevards so people can walk, run, bike, skateboard, in-line skate or dance in the streets. Judging by video of the event, it seems to be especially popular with children.
Cantori said the advocate behind his advocacy is his daughter, Andrea, 14, whom he and his wife adopted in Colombia two years ago. One of her first questions upon coming here, he said, was when they could go to Baltimore's ciclovia. So instead of simply explaining why there wasn't one, he began to persuade city leaders that it could be done here.
He seems to have done a good job. Bill Gilmore, executive director of the city's Office of Promotion & the Arts, said officials are taking the idea seriously.
"On many levels it's a really terrific event," he said. "It brings people together. It's good for your health. It's good for the environment. There's just a lot of residual positive impact."
