Transportation Tuesday is usually focused on getting from one place to another, but sometimes you’ve got to slow down and take a break from transit. It’s time to mark your calendars, plan your park, and get ready to claim a space (or two or three) for Park(ing) Day coming up on September 19, 2008. This annual event is a guerrilla gardening take-over of public spaces otherwise designated for cars and turning them into “park(ing)” spaces, or public parks. Growing year to year, Park(ing) Day 2008 is going to be a global experience that shows how green our cities could be if designed for people instead of cars.
Last year 58 park(ing) spots were identified in San Francisco, 45 in Los Angeles, and 25 in NYC with additional participants in Washington DC, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, St. Paul, Boston, Austin, Salt Lake City, Tampa, and Miami. Park(ing) Day is reaching worldwide to London, Bremen, Utrecht, Barcelona, Valencia, Munich, Rio de Janerio, and more.
Originally conceived by ReBar, a San Francisco-based art collective, in 2005, Park(ing) Day is an international one-day event that calls all artists, activist, and citizens together to temporarily take over parking spots turning them into temporary public parks. Not only does it make us rethink the way streets are used, but it calls us to call attention to the need for more green space in our urban environments.
If you haven’t already, check with The Trust for Public Land and make sure your park is registered on the website, or see if there’s anything going on in a city near you to start planning. ReBar has a great how-to website blog if you’re interested or need some extra help pulling something together – anyone can be a green thumb, if only for a day. So mark your calendars get involved, and get ready to spend more time out on the street come September 19, 2008. We’ll see you at the park.
+ Park(ing) Day
+ The Trust for Public Land
