West 29th in Hingetown to See Trial Run Phase as Open Street

Cleveland has officially gotten its third open street—a street shut down to car traffic—albeit on a temporary basis.

Over the weekend, City Hall announced that West 29th St. in Hingetown, from Church to Clinton avenues, will be refashioned as pedestrian-only for two weeks, until at least September 8. No automobiles, just like with East 4th and Market Ave., will be allowed.

Instead, as has been the intention of the City Planning Commission for at least two years, that roughly 8,000 square feet of space will be transformed into somewhat of an outdoor living room, complete with a pad of green turf, a parklet in front of Rising Star complete with place games, tables and chairs, and bookended by two fixed concrete barriers.

What will be a test pilot for a more permanent closure of the street comes after months of gathering feedback from the public.

[content-1] The overall idea, which has fueled a closure campaign by the city since 2022, follows the spirit of conviviality seen in larger cities like New York and Montreal, where streets dedicated to pedestrians lead to increased property values, more lucrative retail and even a mark as a fresh tourist destination.

“The goal is for West 29th Street to become a Street for People—a street that is open for public use free of car traffic,” CPC director Joyce Huang said in a statement.

“Already, there are residents and small businesses organizing family days and community meetups," she added. "This temporary, two-week open street allows people to test the space and inform how [it] should look and feel.”

Huang's pitch to the city at large—that no cars is better than some—includes a series of grassroots-y events, from casual picnics to a Larder Family Friendly Happy Hour and a NASA Glenn show-and-tell. The annual Hingetown Jazz Fest this Saturday will be a good chance to see the space in action.

These are ideas that may work in favor of the consensus.

An online survey of 142 mostly Ohio City residents said they generally favored West 29th's closure, due to its potential for "strong community energy" and Hingetown's viability already as a "place to bump into friends."

Seventy percent of those surveyed went the produce angle, finding a farmers market the best possible usage of that 8,000 square feet. (The West Side Market is about a mile away.) Some wanted games or a movies on the lawn. Thirty-eight percent went for live music.

Live music best exemplified by the Cleveland Museum of Art's City Stages, the summer trifecta of outdoor world music concerts that wrapped up in late July. All four blocks were shut down—not just Clinton to Church. Thousands packed Hingetown for nights of dancing, taco trucks, beers in plastic cups -- a scene more resemblant of a plaza in Europe.

But City Stages, some businesses argue, is only three evenings in July. Rarely do other events of scale operate outside of it.

"Even if the street were shut down, like, six days a week, that's not 365 days a year," Dean Rufus, the owner of Dean Rufus' House of Fun on West 29th, told Scene in a phone call in February, when City Hall first announced its closure. "I'm annoyed by the whole thing."

That strip of retail north of Church, which includes the Jukebox, Verbena, Saucy Brew Works and others, is likely why City Hall opted not to shut down the street in front of it. Although many at their feedback session at Larder in April seemed to want both blocks shut down regardless. (The concern: parking spots eliminated.)

Even in winter, which Jukebox owner Alex Budin balked at on principle.

"That's seven to eight month!" he told Scene in February. "I mean, I don't know if there's infrastructure to make West 29th hospitable for half that time."

All the more reason, City Hall's pitch goes, for a West 29th trial run.

Those interested in pitching ideas for activation or for community events, the city said, can email Britany Pabon at bpabon@clevelandohio.gov. [content-3]

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