NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — About a mile long stretch of Buchanan Street in North Nashville closed down Sunday so that pedestrians could take over.
“This has kind of just become like a street park today that’s just been co-created by the neighborhood,” said Brenda Perez, community engagement manager for Walk Bike Nashville.
North Nashville took part in the nationwide initiative to "stir the imagination to rethink public spaces and allow people to experience car-free streets."
“Our goal for Walk Bike Nashville is to create a more walkable, bikeable and livable Nashville and so 'Open Streets' is a way for us to do that,” said Perez.
This comes during a broader push to make Nashville more pedestrian-friendly.
“We really don’t need to have our roads just be for cars, like our roads can be for all kinds of users and all kinds of people and this is really us bringing our imagination to life,“ said Perez.
According to Walk Bike Nashville, only 19% of Nashville streets have sidewalks, making events like this one important for residents to safely enjoy what would ordinarily be a busy roadway.
“It’s very, very loud and it’s scary actually- it’s scary because the cars go so fast," said North Nashville resident, M. Simone Boyd who lives off Buchanan.
She said events like this not only highlight pedestrian safety concerns but also help communities unite.
“Typically when North Nashville is in the news, when it’s in the media, it’s very negative. It’s about crime or real estate, but that’s not who we are,” she said. “There’s so much art, history, culture, we’re celebrating, we have so many beautiful residents, beautiful neighbors, and people are out here just walking up and down the street, just celebrating who they are- who we are as a community.”
It's a community shaped by all different walks of life, all traveling down the same road.
