Modesto's city council on Tuesday unanimously voted to lift a ban on cruising that was imposed decades ago and anti-cruising signs will begin to start coming down this weekend. While a second reading needs to take place for the decision to become official, the ban on cruising will not be enforced. Hours before the vote, Chito Mireles sat in his lowrider outside of Modesto City Hall to await the outcome of the meeting. His young son bounced back and forth on the driver’s seat of the red and gold convertible. “It’s like therapy to me,” Mireles said. “You can be having a bad day, a lot going on, and cruising just, to me, it takes you out of the moment.”Thousands of people have been drawn to the cruises in Modesto throughout the decades. Many say it goes back to the 1940s, and it became an even bigger movement after the George Lucas film “American Graffiti” showed scenes with characters cruising around the streets of Modesto in classic cars.| RELATED | How cruising, lowriding became an expression of Chicano culture in California“Cruising is a part of Modesto’s culture, it’s DNA, the movie American Graffiti by George Lucas was, of course, a big piece of Modesto’s story,” said city spokesperson Andrew Gonzales.But the magnitude of the cruises eventually became a problem. “There was quality of life concerns with the cruising,” said Modesto police assistant chief Ivan Valencia. “The amount of vehicles, the traffic, the littering and loitering that happens afterwards as well as increased violence towards the end of the 1980s, so that’s why they enacted the cruising ban in 1990.”| MORE | Hundreds of lowriders line Sacramento's Capitol Mall for 'California Lowrider Holiday'But now, police say times have changed, no trouble has been stirred at car shows here for years, and after much demand from the community, they decided it was time for a change. This is why Valencia says the department proposed lifting the ban. Other car lovers like Jerry Thompson showed up outside City Hall to express their support for lifting the ban. “Cruising is a good thing, it’s not a bad thing,” Thompson said. “And the people that are involved, they all work together, they do their part in the community to try to make this community better and safer.”Many say cruising isn’t just about cars, but also about carrying on traditions and family activities. | MORE | High school students in Sacramento work to convert lowrider to an electric vehicle“The car culture no wis not like it used to be,” Mireles said. “The stigmas that it had back in the past. It’s more about community now, it’s more about family and tradition and it’s generational. It went from my father down to me and now to my younger kids.”The proposal comes at a time when sideshows and the violence that often follows them, are becoming more and more mainstream, leading to police declaring them a public nuisance. One concern raised is whether lifting the ban would open the door for things like sideshows or other illegal activities. Police say they hope it won’t be the case but are prepared to handle anything that comes their way. | MORE | Sacramento lowriders to celebrate year after ban repealed“We’ll also be presenting an ordinance to ban sideshow activity. That includes being a driver, or passenger in these vehicles that are involved in this activity, spectators as well,” Valencia said before the vote. Valencia added that anyone promoting sideshows via social media or other platforms will also be subject to fines and other consequences. An Assembly bill is also being considered to lift a ban on cruising across the state. That is set to be discussed Wednesday at the state Capitol.