Carfree street events take the fun of a street fair and add to it by giving city residents a chance to explore their neighborhoods on foot or on bikes, sometimes for the first time. In places where neighbors live in fear of violence, carfree street events are a great way to take back the street for families.

The record-breaking summer of 2012—which brought the hottest July in U.S. history and the worst drought in 50 years (a drought that continues to afflict 60 percent of the nation)—hints at what may lie ahead. Corn and soybean yields plummeted in 2012, driving up world food prices, increasing hunger, and triggering protests in Indonesia that recalled the street riots that afflicted dozens of nations after the last big food-price jump in 2007–08.

Bicycle transportation is good for a lot of things — it’s healthy, it’s green, it’s quiet, it’s fun, it builds community. It also makes financial sense, and the magnitude of bicycling’s economic impact gets far less attention than it deserves.

A group of Muslim and Jewish cyclists found common ground Sunday on Chicago pavement as they biked across the city from a downtown mosque to a North Side synagogue.

One of the most important things a bicycle can build is community, as anyone who has spent time at a place like Bike Works in Columbia City can tell you. Just by riding a bicycle, you learn more about the place you live. The way we get around our neighborhoods has a lot to do with how safe we feel, who we see regularly; basically, our sense of place.

“A big pull here is going to be promoting the lifestyle of cycling and everything that comes along with it—the healthy lifestyle, the atmosphere, the camaraderie,” he said. “The whole goal is to promote that feeling of community and unity.”