Change Comes to Walnut Street

A Weekend with Two Days of Open Streets

The Fishtown Pickle Project visited on Saturday.

Will Philadelphia's Rittenhouse ever be the same again? I devoutly hope not. Imagine a whole weekend - one with remarkably good weather - where both Walnut street (from Broad to 19th) and 18th street (from Locust to Chestnut) were reserved for pedestrians during the day.

And the cars do seem to be adjusting to the idea that they don't own the asphalt 24/7. I've noticed, this spring, that the long snake-lines of aggravated motorists seem to be getting shorter. It seems some people have figured out that driving around Rittenhouse square may not always be the quickest way to their destination. And perhaps I'm hallucinating, but it also seems there is less horn honking and possibly even less in the way of abrupt lane changes. The people in queue seem to know they're in a queue. Interesting. Perhaps it's possible that Philly motorists are capable of learning new things.

By Rittenhouse square on Saturday.

I believe that closing Walnut and 18th for two consecutive days may never have been done before. Not that Open Streets has entirely lacked for company - I remember particularly a beautiful Sunday in September 2024, when the Open Streets coincided with the last day of the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show. 

I recall the energy from that day. The Art Show is located mainly on the sidewalks surrounding the park, so it and the Open Streets were effectively rubbing elbows. I think each one gathered energy from the other.

This year, with the Spring Festival and the Open Streets taking place on separate days, that kind of energy transfer didn't happen. But I think something else did happen that is possibly even more important. The streets without cars, and with lots of people walking down the middle of the street, began to look normal.

And I at least felt I was beginning to take a measure of the possibilities. The two events were quite different from one another, and yet the site on Walnut and 18th handled both with aplomb. I'm seeing flexible and scalable, and as for frequency I think we're just getting started.

Is this design transferable to other areas? Queen Village had a dandy open street last year, and the Center City District has been experimenting with 13th street. But we should remember that Open Streets West Walnut has Rittenhouse square, and you should not underestimate the quiet power of that square.

Saturday

Our double-barreled weekend opened on Saturday, May 2, with something called the Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival. This was not a typical Open Streets event. It was a lot busier. The restaurants in the area were clearly the main drivers, with many of them taking over the asphalt in front of their establishments. Uchi, which is located on Sansom, camped out in a tent. There was a great deal of food on offer, and alcoholic beverages were also available.

Not surprisingly the patrons were largely adults, particularly younger adults. There wasn't a whole lot for children, but the ones who were there clearly found ways to amuse themselves. We must remember how inventive small children can be.

Sunday

The Open Streets on Sunday tracked strongly with the prior outings in 2024 and 2025. And as usual they really were open - there were plenty of people there, but there was also room to run and play, which is what the children did (along with a number of the adults). Beanbag, also known as cornhole, was available in practically every block. There was chalk everywhere, and people were getting in touch with their inner artist as they brightened up the gray (and sometimes even black) asphalt. 

And, yes, you could eat lunch in the middle of the street - dejeuner sur le tarmac, if you will.

In the past, there had been an array of televisions set up on 18th street near Chestnut, where people sat in chairs and watched football games and cartoons. The TVs are gone. Personally I don't miss them, but they did have their audience.

And I didn't see the lady on stilts.

Both days offered music, with Saturday leaning to disc jockeys and Sunday leaning to live performance.

On Sunday we had hula hoops in profusion. I think they've always been around, but not in these numbers. And they were very popular.

The bubble man is a perennial favorite. This time he had an array that looked like a piece of tennis net and produced a prodigious number of bubbles, all closely aligned. I personally found it rather unsettling until the bubbles separated and pulled us back into comedy.

It's possible that my personal favorite is the chess board. I sincerely doubt that much chess ever gets played here, but that's not the point. Small children get to embrace knights and pawns and castles and kings and queens. Even the occasional bishop. Or maybe just stand among them and think about what chess piece you want to be.

And let's go back to chalk. Here's a new decorative scheme for manhole covers. I'm sure Peco will adopt it very soon.

The Center City District has a well worked out plan for Open Streets West Walnut, and the plan clearly has staying power.

A Parting Thought

I do think something big happened during that first weekend in May, in and around Rittenhouse square. Something subtle but important, like a monarch butterfly emerging from its chrysalis and spreading its wings. 

See also What We Lost, Gordon Cullen and the Outdoor Floor, We're Actually Winning, Checking in With Outdoor Dining, April Open Streets, Open Streets Mummers, Can Open Streets Go Year-Round?