National Park(ing) Day is coming up, so get ready to park yourself instead of your car. Sponsored by the Trust for Public Land (TPL), according to the website, it is a day for people all over the world to celebrate urban parks and promote the need for more parks by creating temporary public parks in public parking spaces. It's well worth the quarters!
The concept was originally created by Rebar, a San Francisco art collective, in 2005. The first "PARK(ing) Day", held in 2006, was meant to be "a global exploration of the creative potential of streets." Last year, through an all volunteer effort, more than 200 events were held in 50 cities, taking over public parking to park the public and create new, temporary, communal, outdoor spaces.
"By turning parking spaces into instant parks, National Park(ing) Day is a creative way to demonstrate the real need to have and create parks in our cities," said Will Rogers, TPL president. "Across America, cities are renewing their investments in parks because our civic leaders have come to recognize that close-to-home parks, gardens, and playgrounds are essential if we are to have cities that aren't just livable, but lovable."
According to the organizers, currently, more than 70% of outdoor space in most cities is reserved for private vehicles and metered parking offers a cheap, temporary lease on prime outdoor real estate. The concept was to take that temporary lease, and use it for something other than vehicle storage. And in doing so, promote public parks while creating a forum for people to demonstrate their creativity in a public setting by creating the kinds of communal, public spaces they would like to see in their cities.
Anyone can go on the website and create or join an event. The How to Manual (pdf) is informative and entertaining, complete with the original napkin sketch of the first Park(ing) Day concept.
The steps to create an event are simple:
- 1) Choose a spot
- 2) Provide seating - they suggest renting or buying from stores with liberal return policies
- 3) Provide shading - rent or borrow a few trees from your local nursery
- 4) Enclose your area with rope or traffic cones
- 5) Create signs so people know what it's all about
- 6) Stock up on quarters
More than 60 cities have registered events, many with the full participation of merchants, cities and residents. Some, like Los Angeles, have multiple events around the city. In my own city of Santa Monica, the City Environmental and Public Works Department is supporting the event by turning the parking area at the Santa Monica Pier into a movie venue. And like any good, green city, they will be offering free valet bike parking! In Seattle, there will be a double lot park in the South Lake Union Neighborhood, featuring a Zen garden for passers bye to rake and rearrange and free yoga.
It's your visions, your city, your Park(ing) Day!
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