Park(ing) Day!

Sorry for the late notice, folks, but today is Park(ing) Day! What's Park(ing) Day you ask? It's not a tour of our many parks but rather a day when meter parking spots across our great city get temporarily transformed into mini public parks, courtesy of activists, artists, and various non-profit groups. The event is meant to celebrate green space in cities and also raise awareness for the need for more parks and more ped-friendly spaces and the need overall for better use of public space. The event was started in 2005 in San Francisco and is now sponsored by the Trust for Public Land. It came to Philly for the first time last year and is done with the permission of the Parking Authority (see, they're not that bad). We think it's a pretty great idea and can't wait to see all the little parks. We're betting, though, that it will irk a fair share of motorists, specifically, about 30 of them.

More than 30 groups are scheduled to create parking space sized parks across the city between 9AM and 5PM. Here's a map detailing what group is doing what where. The sites aren't just limited to Center City, there are some in Manyunk, Southwest Philly, and Nothern Liberties as well. Groups participating include the Bicycle Coalition, Venturi, Scott, Brown and Associates, and the UPenn Office of Sustainability.

So, get out and check out the converted parking spots!