It took a visit to Wednesdays Downtown to make me realize the obvious: Fremont East should be closed to cars.

The Downtown street fair running weekly in May had blocked off a stretch of Fremont from Las Vegas Boulevard to Sixth Street, filling the asphalt with artists, food trucks, tiny-bike races and bicycle-powered lit-up displays. The only thing missing was traffic. And I didn’t miss it at all.

Instead, I watched attendees wander freely, beers in hand. I saw dogs being walked, burritos being devoured, a festival environment that felt just right in the heart of the Downtown revival.

So why not make it permanent? Picture a Fremont East where food trucks are a regular attraction, where art installations are front and center, where a film screening or public performance or farmer’s market could take the place of taxis and traffic and looking both ways before you cross. Sure, we’d have to give up a tiny bit of driving convenience, but I think we’d gain so much more.