To kick off my 30th year, I escaped the winter tundra of Durham, NC (experiencing an abnormally frigid year) for the blue-green waters of Puerto Rico. The Caribbean island was concluding their annual music festival on the Sunday after we arrived, allowing us to fill our first full day with dancing, cheering, and strolling the blissfully car-free streets of Old San Juan.
This historic neighborhood resembles many European cities with its network of pedestrian streets, pastel storefronts, and medieval-era turrets along an ancient wall surrounding the city. We circumnavigated the island within a couple hours. Each cobblestoned street offered new architecture and views to admire, and each turn revealed more unexpected delights.
We returned to Old San Juan at the end of our trip, eager to spend more time there. On this day, however, the barricades had been lifted and the streets were once again filled with tourist traffic. We struggled to enjoy the city as we previously had, having to navigate narrow busy sidewalks and constant car traffic.
Visiting places like Old San Juan served as a reminder of how activated and alive places can feel when cars are no longer allowed access. Walking along these streets, you have all the time to look up and around at the beauty surrounding you, without worrying about your safety. Preserving space solely for pedestrians is one of the best ways to create places for culture to manifest…like dancing in the streets!
