Feet First, a not for profit organization which encourages walking and promotes the rights and interests of pedestrians, is getting ready for this year’s PARK(ing) Day on Friday, Sept. 18.
PARK(ing) Day began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art collective, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in an area of San Francisco that is underserved by public open space. The event was initially devised as a creative exploration of how urban public space is allocated and used.
Here’s one of Greenwood’s two PARK(ing) spots last year in front of the Pig ‘N Whistle.
The now international event is hosted as far away as Australia. Seattle’s first PARK(ing) Day event was in 2007 with 4 PARK(ing) spots. In 2008 there were 32. This year, organizers hope to hit at least 50 spots.
People develop park(ing) day parks for many different reasons and with many different themes. Some want to reclaim public space for a park. Others want to express some local character and spice up the neighborhood. And others want to raise awareness of an important issue.
Putting together a parking space is easy and simple enough but does takes a little bit of planning and work. Feet First, Trust for Public Lands, and Seattle Parks Foundation are here to help you through. You can find lots more information and photos on https://my.parkingday.org and we have created a Seattle group where we will post lots of information.
