Re:Imagine Garden Grove a Downtown Open Streets Event

CONTACT: The ACE Agency, Ashley Eckenweiler [email protected], (949) 285-9239

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

“Re:Imagine Garden Grove – A Downtown Open Streets Event” Announces Official Car-Free Streets Route

The City of Garden Grove is pleased to announce the official route for its inaugural “Re:Imagine Garden Grove – A Downtown Open Streets Event.” On

Sunday, October 12, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 2.85-miles of downtown

Garden Grove streets will be closed to all cars, creating a temporary pop-up public space for pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders, joggers and all other forms of non- motorized transportation, inviting the community and visitors to explore a unique, car-free downtown environment.

Re:Imagine Garden Grove will traverse nearly 3-miles of downtown streets with the car-free route spanning portions of Nutwood St., Stanford Ave., Acacia

Pkwy., Main St., S. Euclid St., 8th St., and Garden Grove Blvd. The open streets concept encourages public health, active transportation and community engagement. Displacing car traffic with people traffic will offer participants an opportunity to explore Downtown Garden Grove in a way not possible while inside a vehicle.

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Re:Imagine Garden Grove will unveil a portion of the OCTA Right-of-Way – the former Pacific Electric Railway – as a temporary pedestrian and bicycle path.

This new amenity will showcase the potential for a permanent active transportation pathway along a 20-mile stretch of land connecting Orange County to Los Angeles.

The Re:Imagine Garden Grove route also highlights the city’s downtown commercial corridors and its Civic Center. Three hub stops along the open streets route will provide first aid, information, and free bike repair.

Designated festival areas along Main St., Acacia Parkway and Euclid St. will be dedicated to pedestrians only. Inside the pedestrian zones, attendees can park their bikes and enjoy food, art, and multicultural programming, performances, demonstrations and activities presented on three stages.

Streets will be fully closed to cars by 9 a.m. and will remain closed until approximately 6 p.m. on October 12. No vehicles or on-street parking will be allowed on the 2.85-mile event route. Eastbound Garden Grove Blvd. will remain open for normal traffic. Cars will be able to cross the route at two intersections along Garden Grove Blvd. (Nelson St./Century Blvd. & Taft St.).

The City has partnered with Los Angeles-based Community Arts Resources

(CARS) to produce the inaugural event. CARS produces L.A.’s CicLAvia open streets event and other acclaimed cultural and community programs.

The first public meeting surrounding Re:Imagine Garden Grove –

A Downtown Open Streets Event will be hosted by CARS and the City on Monday,

July 28 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center, at

11300 Stanford Ave. Residents and visitors are encouraged to attend. -more-

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Members of the press are invited to attend a special guided preview of the route via the O.C. Trolley on August 4 at 10 a.m. For more information and to reserve a seat on the trolley please email [email protected].

For more information, and to get involved, please visit http://www.ggopenstreets.com.

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ABOUT GARDEN GROVE

The City of Garden Grove, CA, located just one mile from the Disneyland Resort, complements Southern California's most popular tourist area with several brand-name hotels, restaurants, and the arrival of the Great Wolf Lodge Southern California water park hotel, currently under construction. As the fifth largest city in Orange County, the city boasts many of the most recognized cultural and spiritual centers, including Little Saigon, the Korean Business District, and the Christ Cathedral (formerly the Crystal Cathedral). Some of the most affordable new housing developments in Southern California, the third largest school district in the county with one of the highest college graduation rates in the state, and a strong, business-friendly atmosphere makes Garden Grove an ideal place for new and current residents, businesses, and visitors.

ABOUT COMMUNITY ARTS RESOURCES (CARS)

Since founders Katie Bergin and Aaron Paley launched Community Arts Resources (CARS) in 1988, the company has been instrumental in utilizing the arts to bring communities together, reclaiming public spaces and cultivating awareness of local histories, cultural connections and creative resources. CARS designs, installs and oversees festivals and other events for the Getty, the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica, CicLAvia, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the Southern California Grantmakers and the California Endowment. It also consults for city governments, private developers and nonprofits on the uses of public space for cultural and artistic purposes, arranges artist-in-residence programs at local schools and develops unique marketing and outreach strategies for organizations and community groups. For more info: www.carsla.net/