Turning parking spots into park spots was the day for many activists all over the country. Activists would take regular parking spots and transform them into mini parks complete with sod, potted plants, lawn chairs and barbeque grills to show America and the world that auto has grown so much that it has taken place of public land in big cities. A neighborhood association in Las Angeles made their “mini park” by taking up seven parking spots filled with a grill, a children's wading pool and a gardening workshop to teach people how to grow plants. Many other cities participated like Chicago where one group changed parking spots into a bicyclist pit stocked with food and drinks and New York City where college students put on a Shakespeare show all on parking spots. All these pocket parks were all done for The 'PARK(ing) Day' movement. ” This famous movement which started as a single installation four years ago has now become a worldwide event in 100 cities on four continents. The PARK(ing) Day movement is not only to show people that public land has been decreased but that parking on the side of the street and not in private lots where cost is a little extra can affect the environment we live it. By searching for a free parking spot than paying for one in a garage or private lot can be harmful. “… A study by Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles that found drivers spent an average of 3.3 minutes, or half a mile, circling the block in search of a parking space. Over a year, vehicles traveled 950,000 miles — the equivalent of 38 trips around the Earth — just looking for a parking spot. Shoup said many drivers would rather cruise for open spots on the street than park in higher-priced lots and garages.” Like the average person and myself no one wants to pay for parking so driving around an extra five minutes to squeeze into a free space is satisfactory, but that results in more traffic, wasted fuel and more population. Hopefully the “PARK(ing) day” movement will show people that driving around the lot 5 times looking for that extra spot can cause long term damage to future generations and the world.
I enjoyed the article a lot because “PARK(ing) Day” is something very creative, original, and it helps the planet which is something the world needs right now. I would have never thought that cruising around an extra five minute searching for a “free” parking spot could result in so much when added up. It is unbelievable how the automobile industry is taking over land and public spaces. I would like to know if “PARK(ing) Day” is being participated in my hometown of Philadelphia which is a much polluted city filled with major traffic and big industries. I thank the creators of PARK(ing) day to bringing this problem to the attention to society and myself. Hopefully this will spread and in the future population and traffic will decrease.
Prem Patel.
