City of Lights

Thanks to everyone who came to the 2nd Annual City of Lights Awards Dinner on October 26th! Thanks to the sponsors, donors, in-kind donors, and honorees!

Read more about the event on the LACBC blog.

In 2008, two LACBC volunteers had a conversation about the need for the cycling community to reach out to the large existing population of Latino immigrant cyclists that ride the streets of Los Angeles. Inspired by this talk, they searched the web for a program that they could borrow and tailor to Los Angeles. They were stunned to find out there were no such programs. Thus, City of Lights was born.

Equity, bikes, and income have always been correlated: Many of the workers City of Lights collaborates with use bikes during hard times, not having legal access to drivers' licenses, and/or to stay healthy. Many rode and fixed bikes back home in Latin America, and City of Lights celebrates that.

Bikes are a part of the Environmental Justice movement.

Since 2009, City of Lights has grown from initial conversations with Latino immigrant cyclists and the distribution of lights at the CARECEN day laborer center to become a diverse, volunteer-driven collective.

Our projects and campaigns include:

BiciDigna: A bike repair co-op at the IDEPSCA Downtown Community Job Center, started in conjunction with the Bicycle Kitchen. For more information, read BiciDigna's blog here: www.bicidigna.wordpress.com

Education: Through our bilingual bike safety and legal rights workshops and the nation's first comprehensive, illustrated, and culturally-relevant Spanish bike resource guides. If you are interested in contracting City of Lights for these workshops or are a community group in Los Angeles that wants to distribute guides to your Spanish speaking members, contact Andy Rodriguez at andy (at) la-bike (dot) org.

Community building: Through rides and activities, such as our end of the year social dinner; we also offer resources to other groups wanting to start similar projects.

Advocacy: For bike infrastructure and policy that targets low-income neighborhoods through our current outreach for the City of Los Angeles' Bicycle Master Plan in Central and South LA, our work to get equity policies in the Plan, and our 2009 bike parking campaign in Westlake/Macarthur Park. 

More detailed information can be found on the City of Lights blog. Additionally, if you would like our help in forming your own similar project or want to contract us to do workshops for you, please fill out this application.

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