ANTIOCH – Dust off your ’63 Chevy Impala, ’79 Lincoln Continental or ’65 Buick Riviera because cruising may soon be back.
For those who missed the news, late last fall Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 436, which repeals local authorities’ ability to prohibit the decades-old tradition of bouncing, hopping and cruising down city streets showing off custom lowriders. The law went into effect Jan. 1.
Longtime Antioch residents may remember the popular tradition of cruising – some in customized lowriders, others in a family car – along the riverfront and on downtown city streets mainly in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. But, like many cities across the state, in 1986 Antioch enacted its own ban on cruising, which some thought led to crime, accidents and noise issues.
So, now with the new state rules in effect, Antioch, like others, must go back to the drawing board and remove its ban, City Attorney Thomas Smith told the City Council during a special meeting this week.
Others cities have done the same in recent years. San Jose repealed its ban in 2022 while Sacramento erased it from its books in 2023. On Feb. 6, 2023, state Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, introduced AB436, which makes it illegal for local authorities to adopt rules and regulations on cruising.
Antioch Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker said she’s been hearing about residents’ desire to bring cruising back for some time. Some special event cruise nights have been permitted over the years in Antioch, and now the new state rules encourage local authorities to work with local car clubs to conduct safe cruising events.
“I haven’t lived in Antioch long enough to know what cruising was like, but I have heard so many people say, ‘bring back cruising,’” Torres-Walker said during the council meeting. “…I think our elders had more fun than we do today.”
The city attorney said the cruising ban was included in a section of the city’s municipal code, and as such, the code will have to be updated through an ordinance to be introduced at a future meeting.
An important California subculture popularized by Chicano communities after World War II, cruising was long popular in such places as East San Jose and Los Angeles. It went national after the 1973 release of George Lucas’ “American Graffiti,” which was filmed in Modesto.
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But by the 1970s and 1980s, authorities soured on the activity and the state legislature in 1982 authorized cities to pass local rules prohibiting cruising — and driving cars that have been modified to a certain height — for public health and welfare reasons.
Antioch cruising started decades before that and it meant driving down Second Street along the riverfront, with maybe a stop at Hazel’s on the old Pittsburg/Antioch Highway, where carhops would serve you a giant Willy burger, chocolate shake and fries.
Antioch resident Leslie May told the council she was old enough to remember cruising, something she first did “driving a stick shift.”
“I’d rather see cruising than sideshows,” she said, suggesting the city have regular cruise nights but be sure to make the cars come with cleanup crews.
“There’s gotta be something attached to it where it’s civil,” she said. “It would be nice to bring it back but have parameters around it. You gotta have speed limits, you can’t go racing down the street and if you’re dripping oil, you can’t come.”
For Torres-Walker, the outdated law made her rethink what else needs to be changed in the city’s municipal code.
“The question for me is how many more of our policies are old, outdated and against state law?” she said. “We need to continue to investigate this and change those things (that are outdated).”
