Block parties are the best of neighborhood life. Here’s how to throw yours in DC.

I live on a street called Outlaw Way. In March 2019, block residents came together to rename it in honor of an amazing couple, William and Pocahontas Outlaw, who showed us all how, specifically and through daily practice, to live in harmony with our neighbors. Whoever you were, they were happy to know you. They would do what they could to make your time with them a bit brighter.

When I first moved to DC in 2014 from a different country with a tiny infant, neighborhood block parties adjacent to our house were how I came to feel at home here. The block party is where we express that whoever you are and whatever you do, there’s a space for you to get to know your neighbors and enjoy each other’s company.

Now I help organize Outlaw Way’s annual block party – which, in practice, means navigating local government. Following the steps of an administrative process isn’t my favorite way to spend my time! But for a block party, it’s worth it. The chance to get out and talk to my neighbors, to watch kids play and run in and out of each other’s houses, doesn’t come along more than once a year.

Block parties are great, and have wider benefits

The shared joy and social capital-building experience of a block party can easily extend to other events. Throughout the year, my neighbors and I will cram ourselves into the concrete plot in front of my neighbor’s house (possibly once a parking spot) to toast whatever’s going on, or bash a piñata.

This year we’ll hold our block party in honor of Mr. Outlaw, who passed away this January, following a morning of service projects to remind ourselves of all he gave us. But every block party has its own joys. If yours is anything like mine, folks bring potluck dishes and drinks, we organize a few games, and the kids go utterly feral.

Sounds fun. How do I hold one?

If you live in DC, this is how you hold a block party, assuming your street is eligible (you can check here). The block party permit approval process can take up to 15 business days (usually three weeks, barring holidays), and you need that approval at least three days before your event. I usually try to kick off the process a couple months in advance, but you can do it in a lot less time if you’re organized.

Step 0. A block listserv can help a lot when it comes to coordination, so if you don’t have one or you’re not sure, try checking in with your Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. Creating one is a matter of going door to door asking folks for their email addresses; it can be a little awkward but it will pay off, not just for this purpose.

Got a way to get in touch with your neighbors, digital or analog? Great! Here’s what’s next:

Step 1. Find a suitable date that a bunch of your neighbors can make (there will be no perfect date, so go for what works for a critical mass of people who seem committed to coming).

Step 2. Log on to DDOT’s Transportation Online Permitting System (TOPS). You will get to know TOPS, you will get to love TOPS. You’ll need to register/login, and go to Parking/Occupancy Permit. Fill out the questionnaire with information like “will there be a bounce house?” (pro tip, you may need insurance for that).

Select the location, date, and timing.

Print out a petition. Take the petition round to your neighbors (this could be combined with step 0 if you’ve got your date but don’t have a listserv), and ask them to sign the petition in support of the block party. You need more than half of the households on your block to agree it’s a good idea. Make sure they know it means no parking on the day (though obviously it’s not appropriate to tow anyone who doesn’t follow this restriction).

A more passive version of this step is to make the petition accessible somewhere such that folks can come by and sign it on their own. In my experience, this doesn’t work very well; you need to either be at your home when folks come by or you need a sufficiently secure but still visible place to stash it, plus folks need lots of reminders.

A nice middle ground is to tell your listserv that you’re serving lemonade (or something!) and they can come by and sign on X and Y weekend afternoons.

Step 3. Get your documentation together. Fill out a traffic control plan (this basically means writing the names of yours and adjacent streets on a template, and showing where you intend to block off).

Step 4. Apply for your permit! Remember to give it at least 15 business days. It may make sense to regularly check the system for updates, which can just sit there, and it’s not unusual to have to update this or that document.

Permit approved? Yes? Congratulations! If nothing else happens now other than closing the street to cars for a day, wouldn’t that be wonderful in and of itself? (Seriously, I have considered just applying for a road closure as a secondary, low-key block party that requires less management).

Step 5. Delegate tasks! You can’t do most of this on your own. If you’ve got this far without calling in help, well done, you should be a mother. But real talk, it’s good to delegate any tasks either before or after this point. A small, informal “party committee” could help ensure things don’t just fall in the “someone else will do it” circular file (trash bin).

Sample tasks to delegate (many of these are optional):

• Make flyers to make sure every neighbor is notified in advance, not just those on the email list
• Hand out the flyers
• Organize a bounce house, if applicable
• Organize a few games
• Put up no-parking signs at least 72 hours before the party
• Block the ends of the road on the day with cars, cones, tape (this is a terrific task for your neighbors with big, muscly vehicles)
• If you want, you can try a methodical approach to your potluck in which people are assigned mains, desserts, etc. I don’t usually do this.
• Bring tables and/or chairs (in our case there are never enough of the latter)
• Organize a DJ (music choice and volume can be sensitive topics)

Step 6. Go to a District government site with a printing kiosk (the Department of Buildings office on 4th St SW is a sure bet, plus a few other locations such as some police substations) and print out the no-parking signs. Please be prepared to be patient with this process and any on-site staff.

Step 7. Put up the “no parking” signs at least 72 hours before the event starts.

Step 8. Remind your neighbors to move their vehicles before the event start time. This is important, especially if it’s your first block party or first for a while. People don’t like being surprised if it’s not on their radar. Grumpy neighbors are no way to start the block party!

Step 9. PARTY DAY. It’s key to block the road as soon as the permit allows (and not before), because even if no one comes out right away, it’s the signal that the block is now car-free and no one should be driving down it. Kids start using it for biking, scooting, and mayhem; you want them to do so with zero worries and for as long as they can.

Let the fun begin! This is your day to live on a pedestrianized, quiet from cars, socially vibrant street – enjoy it!

Some things to think about

A block party depends on a few things that aren’t available in every neighborhood. A point person has to have the disposable time to organize it. Others have to have the disposable time to take on discrete tasks (delegate!). Usually, some financial resources are involved, even if those are shared and minor like a potluck meal. Like I mentioned, it helps a lot to have a listserv (hopefully one where all the discussions are productive, which is why I manage ours with an iron fist–just kidding–or am I).

Block residents have to judge for themselves if it feels safe to party in public space, and due to evacuation routes and other issues, some blocks don’t have the option to close at all and might have to team up with adjacent blocks (we used to do this when we lived on South Carolina SE, a fire route). And some social capital, by which I mean trust and interest in your neighbors, and general assumption that you can be safe and treated with respect in a given setting, is the energy that powers the block party experience.

Your block’s time to shine

At times folks are wistful for the block parties of previous decades, when the Outlaws and other storied neighbors would hold a full-block fish fry or dress up for a clown parade. But the time we have is now, and the spirit of the block party doesn’t have to change even as the characters do. If you’ve never held one before, I encourage you not to get stymied by the administrative process; the keys are starting early, communication, and delegation.

Writing this up reminds me to go start organizing our block party this year. When we do, you are welcome to drop by. Everyone is.