Park(ing) Day
Streetsblog Basics
Park(ing) Day Scenes From Coast to Coast
Today is a very fun day in cities around the U.S., when advocates for better public spaces unleash their imaginations on the dreary places where we normally store cars. Park(ing) Day is "an annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks," according to its organizers.
September 18, 2015
NYC Celebrates Park(ing) Day 2014
Today's the day when people across the world replace parking with parks to prompt their neighbors to think a bit differently about how we use street space. While participation in Park(ing) Day seems to have ebbed in New York recently, the city still made a decent showing this year. Here's a sampler of the pop-up parklets across the city today.
September 19, 2014
In Tenth Year of Park(ing) Day, Parklets Bloom on Six Continents
Cities on six continents are celebrating Park(ing) Day today, now in its tenth year of temporarily transforming curbside space for cars into public spaces for people. Some of the pop-up parks that caught our eye this Park(ing) Day include:
September 19, 2014
Park(ing) Day Scenes From Around the United States
It was only eight years ago that the international movement known as Park(ing) Day got started (in San Francisco or New York, depending on whom you ask). In a short time, this fun way to demonstrate the squandered potential of ordinary parking spaces has become a global phenomenon.
September 20, 2013
Happy Park(ing) Day
A shout out to our colleague Philip Winn for this parking-to-park animation, starring the OpenPlans Park(ing) Day installation at Crosby and Howard Streets, near Streetsblog headquarters.
September 21, 2012
Park(ing) Day Once Again Sweeps the Globe
One of our favorite aspects of Park(ing) Day is its international scope. Across the world, people know that street space is public space. Today's the day they show how it can be re-purposed to provide more than parking. Check out the Park(ing) Day Flickr tag to see some truly impressive curbside installations from places like Krakow, Munich, and San Francisco.
September 16, 2011
Shakespeare In The Park(ing) Spot
In New York City, some of the most active participants in Park(ing) Day, the celebration of on-street public space, are students. The largest street reclamation I saw today was put on by Fordham undergraduates, who converted what looked like three parking spaces into a stage and auditorium for a day of Shakespeare In The Parking Spot.
September 16, 2011
Park(ing) Day 2011: Find Your Favorite Park(ing) Spot
The forecast is sunny and seasonable for Park(ing) Day 2011 here in New York City, so get ready to enjoy the annual celebration of the public spaces that are our neighborhood streets. At 34 locations in all five boroughs, New Yorkers will be taking over curbside parking spaces with installations that are by turns relaxing, playful, political and creative.
September 15, 2011
In Chelsea, Adding Parks to the Street Could Free Up Room For Housing Too
This Friday, New Yorkers will take part in Park(ing) Day, repurposing dozens of parking spaces around the city to show what you can do with valuable curbside real estate besides storing cars. Last year, participants set up everything from "alternate side mulching" to an entire dorm room, complete with walls and a television set, to help New Yorkers re-imagine the potential uses of their streets.
September 13, 2011
Andres Power Helps Lead a Streets Renaissance One Parklet at a Time
City planners often get very little public recognition for the work they do, and can sometimes take the heat on a project if it doesn't prove politically popular. In the case of San Francisco's revolutionary Pavement to Parks program, the early resistance to reclaiming public space from cars to create convivial spaces for people has gradually subsided and parklets are now in heavy demand. None of it would have been possible without the hard work and determination of Andres Power, an urban designer for the San Francisco Planning Department.
May 9, 2011