PARK(ing) it for One Day
If some time this Friday, Sept. 18, you see a park bench and some grass where a parking space once was, don’t panic. There’s a reason for the transformation.
Such a pocket park means someone is taking part in PARK(ing) Day 2009, a suddenly international art happening originally started in San Francisco by a group called Rebar. PARK(ing) Day participants transform a metered parking spot into an unmetered park for a few hours, providing a brief excuse to get out of our cars and into, say, a street-side wading pool or park bench.
I’m all for it. I have long supported efforts to encourage more bicycle and public-transit use in Los Angeles, and regularly ride my own bike to City Hall or my district offices from my Echo Park home. And I’ve encouraged city planners and parks officials to look at ways we can create permanent mini parks and green spaces on small parcels of underused land around the city.
PARK(ing) Day is another important opportunity to think a bit about our relationship to our cars and to the city. Despite the presence of such treasures as Griffith Park and nearby national forests, wilderness and recreation areas, the Los Angeles metropolitan area has far less neighborhood park space per capita than most major U.S. cities.
For a few hours on Friday, we can slightly improve on those numbers. There are several PARKs planned in the Los Angeles area, in downtown and South Park, on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice as well as in Santa Monica and West Hollywood
There’s also one in the heart of my district, at 1525 W. Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park. Sponsors include the Echo Park Time Bank, Echo Curio and Nuvia’s, which are providing “plants, a mini pool and comfortable seating,” along with music and free horchata. Now that’s a park, even if only from 10 am to 2 pm for just one fun day.
For more information about PARK(ing) Day, PARK locations, or even to create your own, go to http://www.parkingday.org/
