Reclaiming Public Spaces - Park(ing) Day

The list: Reclaim public space lost to parking

A PARK near City Hall organized by the City Health Department and the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association.

The International PARK(ing) Day, is a day in which people turn street space normally used for car parking into mini parks or something else that gets people to stop and talk to each other. It provokes discussion about parking policy in cities. I'm a fan of PARK(ing) Day as it's a small way to get neighbours talking, even if only for one day. Seeing a PARK is so surprising to most people, that a lot of passers-by tend to stop and talk to the PARKers, or even do a double-back once they decide that they did really see what they thought they saw. Hence more neighbourly interaction. Look up Neighbor's Checklist items.

The longer term idea is to reclaim small pieces of the street infrastructure for some programmed space that gets neighbours talking on a day-to-day basis. This could be a garden, a play space, bike parking racks, a sculpture, a permanent hop scotch court, a bag toss set up, etc. Whatever makes sense for that neighbourhood.

Several PARK(ing) spots were set up in San Francisco. One of the favourite's was the beauty school on Folsom. Extending local commerce onto the street is a highly practical way to boost the local economy while also making the street more pleasant and neighbourly, especially for the deader areas with bloated driving lanes. In fact, small-scale street space reclamations are more often than not about improving the bottom line of the local economy rather than a reflection of wide-spread agreement that streets should be for people. So it was nice to see a number of commercial institutions participating in the event this year. Another was not a PARK, but just an outdoor cafe. It looked like a PARK because it was across the street from a double PARK.

A negative aspect is that a lot of the organizers seemed to miss the point that, if you want to engage people on the street, you should arrange the PARK to face the sidewalk, not the cars on the street. City government in many areas of this country often makes the same mistake when they place benches and bus stops to face car traffic, rather than the sidewalk. People watching is far more interesting than watching cars go by. The photos from NYC suggest that New Yorkers got it right. Similuar projects went on in Chicago and L.A.


Doing hair and makeup at a PARK. Loved this one because it's practical and weirdly fascinating.


This is just a cafe in the street. Again, it's practical and looks like a nice place to eat.


A theater company handed out schedules of their performances for the year. Though they made the mistake of setting up to face the cars on a vast street. Again, a practical reason to reclaim street space.

P(LOT)

Michael Rakowitz is know for his controversial uses of public space, and P(LOT) is no exception. Taking the notion that a parking space could be rented for other uses, like say a temporary encampment, Michael has designed tents from car covers to help make them blend in. The covers are available for loan from MUMOK if you want to give it a go.

michaelrakowitz.com - Go to Projects, P(LOT)

Comment about Park(ing) Day:

"Park(ing) Day was a huge success! Twenty parcels of public space--that on any other day would be parking spots serving only a handful of drivers--were repurposed to benefit thousands of pedestrians. With a little ingenuity and a lot of creativity, groups from Staten Island to the Bronx fashioned green spaces, sitting places, and active public space from some of the most undervalued real estate on the planet."

The most encouraging and exciting part of Park(ing) Day was the positive response from the public. Not only were New Yorkers eager to spend some of their workday in a repurposed Park(ing) spot, but many people also wanted to know how parks of this type could be made permanent. Given Park(ing) Day's popularity, the city should consider developing a program where neighborhoods could apply to transform 1 or 2 parking spots on their street into permanent community space. If you would like to see such a transformation on your street, please contact streets@transalt.org.

If you missed Park(ing) Day or just want to remind yourself how fun it was, check out StreetFilms newest short, Park(ing) Day 2007 NYC. To find out how you can become involved next year, sign up for the Park(ing) Day mailing list at the Park(ing) Day organizing site.

And a special thanks to REBAR, The Trust for Public Land, The Open Planning Project, Councilmember Gale Brewer, Chashama, Clarence Eckerson, Colin Beavan, Day de Dada, Endless Love Crew, Fordham University, Green Map, Ian Dutton, Jen Petersen, Julie Raskin, Jennifer Ewing and Columbia Students, Kiss + Cathcart Architects, The Lower East Side Girls Club, Ms. J's Gym and Dance, Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership, New York University Environmental Health Clinic, Park Slope Neighbors, Project for Public Spaces, Sustainable Flatbush, Time's Up, Upper Green Side, Yoshihara McKee Architects, and all the groups and individuals involved in Parkin(ing) Day 2007 NYC!

"Play catch in your street and/or alley."

• Two guys were playing the bean bag game with Bears branded bags. The bean bag game has been big in Chicago for a long time thanks to the Bozo Show, which was based here and _the_ thing to do when I was a kid. It seems to have grown as we've aged and now I see a lot of adults in my neighborhood (of varying ages) with bean bag set ups in front of their houses. It's a kind of bizarre game, and what gets me most is that people usually have not one, but two bag boards so that you can compete simultaneously against your opponent. Anyway, I guess it goes well with our beer and sports culture here, so I'm all for more bean bagging.
• Some kids were playing wiffle ball on an especially wide residential street. They seemed a little uncertain whether it was OK to do.