would YOU kill an
                          innocent person?

Picture of the Day
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Sunday
September 16, 02001


i gave away 375 of these stickers

This page needs CarFree Fremont pictures! If you got 'em, please send to rob"at"thinksmall.org


World Car Free Day -
                                            Sept. 21Woke to drizzly grey morning after a week of sun. Didn't bode well for an outdoor event, but we pressed on. The sun finally did come out—about 38 seconds before it set. Just in time for outdoor screening of Breaking Away to a small but enthusiastic audience.

On the whole, I'd have to say the day was a success. Panel discussion with people who've given up their cars was followed by a well-attended talk with transportation experts, business owners, area artists, councilpeople and candidates who addressed the question of a car-free future in Seattle. The question I remember best from that is, "Why do we vote on mass transit but not roads?" The day was all about questioning assumptions and this got it off to a good start.

For the rest of the day, Muckelflugga ruled the streets, people decorated their bikes with tassles and doodads, Seattle's nomadic roller disco tribe threw down in front of Steve's volunteer hq where Bruce's fresh-caught salmon and a keg of beer fed the masses, hardcore DIY bicycle builders Dead Baby Bike Club jousted with boxing gloves attached to 10-foot poles of PVC as punk bands rocked the FUNC for Bikelove, Pete Bevis set up a moving installation of his bronze roadkill lifecastings and then rallied the locals to install an all-way STOP and painted crosswalks at a deadly intersection (viva direct action!), inline lessons, bicycle repair advice, electric bike test rides, and info booths lined Canal Street, and the day wrapped up in comfy easy chairs with a drum circle for peace gathered 'round a fire in the middle-of-the-street geodome astroturf lounge.

In short, it was a day of community, love, and peace, a shining example of the good that happens when tribes gather in the street and cars are nowhere to be heard, seen, or breathed.