Park[ing] Day LA 2009:
Park[ing] Day LA took to the streets of Los Angeles as activists, artists, community planners and neighborhood councils stepped up to the curb, put a quarter in the meter, and proceeded to transform park[ing] spaces into temporary parks, engaging the public in a variety of discussions on public space and community priorities for the use of our streets. 2009 was PDLA's third year participating in the worldwide Park[ing] Day celebration.
In 2009 there were political parks that challenged you to act and there were social parks that asked you to chill. There were ambitious parks that presented a vision and there were cultural parks that celebrated community roots. A dog park, a goat park, a bakery park, a zen park and a proposed park all demonstrated that in Los Angeles, we've had it all.
Along the way there was a wide variety of reactions from the municipal authorities. Santa Monica said "No!" while Glendale said "Yes!" West Hollywood said "Shut' em down!" while LA's Rampart Division yelled "Run 'em out of town!" Along the way, the Park[ing] Day folks made friends, raised eyebrows, they received hoots and hollers and shouts of encouragement from passersby. But most of all they all had great fun!
The Greensters, LA's first pedal powered transportation team, hosted LOAD[ing] Zone, a mobile event that saw cyclists hauling parks across the city, stopping to pollinate communities along the way. Starting on the westside, they were joined by the Culver City Police Department within minutes of setting up the first park. It took much deliberation, consultation and research, but they ultimately determined that the party paying the meter had the right to occupy the space. It was a great way to start the day, active one-on-one conversations about the use of public space, engaged guests joining us for homemade bakery treats and a presentation at the Speakers' Platform on the need to engage our community in the management of our public space.
LOAD[ing] Zone rode across town, stopping in Little Ethiopia, Mid Town, Hel-Mel, East Hollywood, and finally Echo Park for the Ride-In Movie hosted by the Echo Park Film Center and featuring a program Bicycle Film Festival favorites and concluding with Les Triplettes de Belleville. In a long day filled with lots of adventure and covering many miles, one incredible highlight was the discovery of the Department of DIY's proposed Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter Community Park at the busy SE corner of Wilshire and Vermont. Currently a barren empty dirt lot surrounded by sand bags and a chain link fence, the future home of the community park was memorialized by a large Department of DIY sign that elaborated on the vision for the community. The intersection is one of the busiest transit hubs in the city and is in the middle of a densely populated urban environment and the passersby endorsed the proposed park by throwing seed bombs over the fence in an expression of their hope that the park will take root and blossom into a great park that creates community and puts people first.
The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council built on the success of their prior events and had two parks this year. Alfredo "the Park Czar" led a "Rec Center" team including the LA Guerrilla Gardeners and Recycled Movie and built a park that featured a swimming pool, a BBQ, a seed bomb assembly plant, a petting zoo, and a commitment to be the first temporary park that lasts forever. At the conclusion of the event, all of the living materials went with the LA Guerrilla Gardeners who conducted a "dig" the next day and the EHNC park found a permanent home.
David Bell and Jennifer Moran hosted "East Hollywood Greens" outside LA's Street Lighting facility on Santa Monica Boulevard, a huge two-block long storage facility that the community would like to see turned into a park. East Hollywood is the park-poorest neighborhood council in the park-poorest City Council District in a city that is committed to providing abundant parking but ambivalent on the need for parks.
Park[ing] Day LA participants received great press coverage which allowed them to take their messages to a larger audience.
MSNBC gave the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council great coverage and the EHNC folks were also interviewed by the Associated Press, KNX Radio and Jay Thomas for XM Radio.
LAist featured Studio City's "How Green is My Valley" hosted by "Nitty Gritty Graphic Design & Two Vegan Hotties" who challenged guests to sample vegan treats and consider a plant based diet.
LAist also covered Glendale's Dream[ing] on Brand which was hosted by Osborne Architects who asked their guests to slow down and to enjoy a brief respite from the rat race.
Pasadena's Star News covered the CB Richard Ellis Group and Valley Crest Landscape Maintenance drought resistant park that carried with it the message that water conservation doesn't mean going brown, it simply means being water-wise and smart urban landscaping.
LA.Streetsblog led a bike ride that also started on the westside and rode to the bestside, touring parks along the way. Damien was ambitious in his plans, hoping to visit 20 parks and ultimately hitting 13 before calling it a day with 40 miles of tour, hundreds of photos, lots of news friends, a sunburn, a traditional fully-clothed cannon ball into the East Hollywood pool and a great write-up that, once again, demonstrates that when it comes to park[ing], LA rocks!
Curbed LA had great coverage of several parks, featuring the Putting Green, the Goat Park and the Flying Pigeon's wifi ready blogg[ing] park.
Elon Schoenholz took the modal-combo tour of Park[ing] Day LA, capturing his journey on film.
Adonia Lugo blogs of his experience with the LAPD in the Rampart District.
People danced at Creative Seeds & Afrologica, chilled at Urth Yoga, played soccer at the Echo Park Time Bank and dined in Chef Jared's Park[ing] Day LA Cafe.
Jared reports "I had a great time and am totally looking forward to doing a bigger, radder park next year!" Autumn and Megan from the Echo Part Time Bank had such a great time and made so many friends, they're gonna keep the energy going with their upcoming square dance/bbq/cakewalk: http://event.pingg.com/EPTBsocial "Bring your friends - all are welcome!"
The Mar Vista Community Council and the Mid-City West Community Council both used their Park[ing] Day LA platform to engage their communities. MVNC is conducting a campaign to convert an empty Fire Station and MCWCC is engaging the city on the need for better transportation planning.
The Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council made "reclaim[ing] Harlem Alley" their mission.
Along the way, architects and planners were in the mix, demonstrating mad skills and imagination as they challenged the status quo. Melendrez, Torti Gallas & Partners, EDAW/AECOM, Osborne Architects, Cunningham Group Architecture, DMC Architects, DEX, Denizen and Greg Green Design all worked hard to raise the bar.
Along the way, Gruen Associates fought the law and the law won! Their "Wishful Thinking Park[ing] Spot in West Hollywood lasted for four hours before the City of West Hollywood cracked down on them, putting an end to the Park[ing] Day LA spot but not their wishful thinking!
Park[ing] Day originated in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco based art and design collective, transformed a metered parking spot into a park-for-a-day in an effort to make a public comment on the lack of quality open space in American cities.
Their goal was to reprogram the urban surface by reclaiming streets for people to rest, relax and play and their mission is to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.
Park[ing] Day LA (PDLA) is an informal group of Park[ing] Day celebrants who are engaged in a campaign to turn the one-day-a-year celebration of metered park[ing] spaces into a more formal Public Space Initiative that challenges our leadership and our community to embrace the simple fact that "Streets are for People!"
If you're interested in participating in the larger, ongoing "open space, public space, green space" conversation, contact us at info@ParkingDayLA.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and on YouTube.
As for the Park[ing] Day LA 2010 parks,
we'll be creating a list here, so go ahead and set up your park today!
Don't forget to join us at our upcoming planning meetins, on August 12th at noon Downtown at the Jewel Box and on August 19th at 7pm at Barnsdall Park in Hollywood. (Details will be posted here and they are also on our Facebook page and will be announced on Twitter.)
![Park[ing] Day LA map](http://www.communitywalk.com/images/blank.gif)
