Parking

Folks, we live in exciting times. If you follow Parking regularly, you may have noticed a community meeting for something called Green2015 listed a few weeks ago. If you pay attention to anything going on in this city, you may have heard about Mayor Nutter's goal to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the country. The plan, known as Greenworks Philadelphia (you can read the entire 73 page PDF here), is comprised of five sections that all start with the letter "E": Energy, Environment, Equity, Economy and Engagement. Each section has its own set of targets, including the one we are most excited about: "provide parks and recreation resources within 10 minutes of 75 per cent of residents."

If you live in South Philly, where there seems to be a park every three blocks, it may surprise you to hear that only 60 per cent of Philadelphians currently live within a half mile (or within a 10 minute walk) of a park. In order to reach the goal of providing easy park access to 75 per cent of residents, the city will have to create 500 more acres of green space by 2015. Potential new green areas include trails by the rivers, vacant lots converted into pocket parks, and deserted blocks transformed into green oases.

This is where you come in. Over the next week and a half, Green2015 will hold four more community meetings. When you attend a meeting, you have a chance to let the Dept. of Parks and Recreation know what you want in terms of green space, hear more about the Greenworks plan, and tour the site of the meeting.

Upcoming meetings:

• Germantown Friends School (map) – Monday, June 14, 6:30 p.m. RSVP
• Bartram's Gardens (map) – Wednesday June 16, 6:30 p.m. RSVP

Other Upcoming Events in Parks:

Art Festival:

• Art in the Open – Watch artists create in the open air throughout the city (map) – Wednesday through Saturday

Film:

• Schuylkill River Banks movie night screens Dave – Thursday, 8:15 p.m.

Flea Market:

• Uhuru Flea Market at Clark Park (map) – Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Garden Fun:

• Design and Plant Window Boxes Workshop at Dickinson Square Park (map) – Saturday, 10 a.m.

Get Involved:

• Dickinson Square Park (map) Clean-Up – Saturday, 9 a.m.

Farmer's Markets:

• Fitler Square (map) – Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Clark Park (map) – Thursdays, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Love Park (map) – Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Schuylkill River Park (map) – Wednesdays, 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Rittenhouse Square – Tuesdays, 10 a.m-1 p.m. and Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

If you know of anything exciting happening in your local park in the near future, please e-mail amy@phillyist.com!