Before the closure of Forest Avenue to traffic, Hospitality Night was a pretty big deal in Laguna Beach. Now in some ways, it will be just like every other night, and that’s a good thing.
Sure, there will be Santa and singing and a tree lighting. But Forest won’t close ceremonially for just one night.
It wasn’t long ago that the closure was a treat. Of course every big Laguna celebration takes place on Forest Avenue – Hospitality Night, the Patriots’ Day Parade, Fête de la Musique – and almost all of them, thankfully, shut down the street.
Why? Because it’s better that way. People like to meander and socialize. They get off their phones and talk face to face, neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend.
A village, a real village, nurtures the vitality of a downtown core because it’s always the lifeblood of its residents.
As a result, a village doesn’t allow cars to run over people in its downtown pedestrian walkways. That doesn’t happen because the design makes it physically impossible.
Believe it or not, cars and people don’t mix. That’s hard to believe in Laguna but it’s true.
Before the closure of Forest, Laguna was not a village. It was a pass-through. Every road was a thoroughfare. Every street optimized for traffic. Every nook and cranny designated for valet parking.
Forest was an exhaust factory, as cars idled like spitting smokestacks looking for spots.
But not on Hospitality Night. Instead, now Forest is filled with music, children and fake snow. There are people in costumes trying to outdo each other. Dogs in tow, unfortunately, wondering why in the heck their owners brought them.
People can’t help themselves because fundamentally, Lagunans like to dress up and throw a party. They like to chat and feel connected.
It’s the village clarion call. We come, we mingle, we jingle, we go home.
And somewhere along the way we actually become a village again.
Thanks to Forest, the little street that helped save Laguna, the street that will be remembered long after the snow melts.
