You’ve felt it — that unmistakable joy of strolling through a cobblestone plaza in France, a lively piazza in Italy, or a car-free street in Mexico. There, life happens in public: people gather, dine, linger, and laugh. Even if you don’t speak the language, you feel welcomed. You feel healthier, more connected, and somehow more alive.

But here’s the question: Why do we have to fly across the world to enjoy what we could create right here in Santa Cruz?

Pedestrian streets aren’t just charming — they’re powerful tools to improve our wellbeing. In cities designed around people instead of cars, residents live longer, healthier lives. The contrast with the U.S. is stark: we spend more on healthcare than any other country, yet suffer from the highest rates of chronic illness and lowest life expectancies among wealthy nations. While American junk food and our healthcare system play their part, the deeper issue is structural — we’ve built our lives around highways instead of human connection. And even the most health-conscious, privileged Americans can’t outrun the toxic effects of living in what often feels like a never-ending NASCAR race.

Why? Because you can only be as healthy as the culture that surrounds you.

We’ve designed our society around cars, not people — and it shows. We sit in traffic, rush from one obligation to the next, and spend more time in isolation than ever before. The cost isn’t just inconvenience — it’s our health. Mounting research shows that strong human connections may be even more essential to long-term well-being than diet or exercise. A groundbreaking study from Alameda County, for instance, found that individuals with the fewest social ties were three times more likely to die over a nine-year period than those with robust social networks. In prioritizing cars over community, we’ve sacrificed something fundamental: our connection to each other.

The U.S. Surgeon General has even declared social isolation a public health epidemic — one that began long before the pandemic. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

That’s why the growing momentum to bring pedestrian streets to Santa Cruz is so exciting. Right now, 13 businesses and organizations on Cooper Street in Downtown Santa Cruz have signed a petition supporting weekend pedestrian streets from May through September. Cooper Street would be closed to cars and open to people — creating room for music, outdoor dining, street art, and the kind of joyful atmosphere we travel abroad to find.

The timing couldn’t be better. After years of online shopping and the daily grind of traffic and parking stress, people are eager for something different — something more human. A place to breathe ocean air instead of exhaust. A space to gather instead of dodge traffic.

Paris alone has added nearly 700 pedestrian streets, and at least 15 California cities have created their own. Why should we choke on gas fumes here while reminiscing about the vibrant street life of cities abroad?

Right here in Santa Cruz, a survey of 104 people conducted by our civic group, Pacific for People, found that over 95% of respondents on Pacific Avenue support creating pedestrian-only zones downtown.

Imagine this: A warm Santa Cruz evening on Cooper Street. Abbott Square is twice its usual size, with tables spilling onto the street. Musicians play softly as kids draw with chalk at their parents’ feet. The air is full of laughter, clinking glasses, and the salt-tinged breeze off the bay. It feels like a Mediterranean postcard — but it’s home.

Cooper Street can be more than just a road — it can be a destination. Most of all, it can be a better place for our kids to grow up.

If that sounds like the future you want, let the mayor and Santa Cruz City Council know: It’s time for a pedestrian-only Cooper Street on summer weekends.

Kevin Norton is a public health professional who lives on Santa Cruz’s Westside. He is a member of the civic group Pacific for People, who are advocating for a pedestrian-only zone on Cooper Street every weekend from May through September.