Parking Day

DC’s Park(ing) Day began in the early morning hours with a trip to collect 12 rolls of sod (about 120 square feet), just enough for a full parking spot. After surveying the major streets it was decided to set up in the 14th Street corridor near Garden District who so graciously allowed us use of their new location the year before. Set up took just about 10 minutes and we started feeding the meter around noon.

Photos started surfacing on Flickr almost immediately and here are some from Steven Greenstreet who documented our humble park for most of the day.

Throughout the day we were visited by a lot of foot traffic consisting of local business owners, school children, cyclists and the occasional traveler including a Spanish reality TV show from Madrid. We set up horseshoes which attracted a lot of attention (and friendly competition) and more than a few visitors from the West Coast who had either heard of or participated in their own Park(ing) Day. Clean up took just about 15 minutes and the sod was given a good home outside Carlos Rosario Career Center in Columbia Heights.

After two years of Park(ing) Day in DC, we’ve learned a few things and I wanted to share our impressions and ideas for next year:

• Permitting just doesn’t work - it makes more sense to do guerrilla parks as opposed to organized locations which the city sanctions. We’ve shown that a temporary park is safe and presents no threat to everyday activity or flow of traffic.
• Corridor takeover - We’ve had great success on 14th street; police drive by without issue and parking attendants just plain avoid us. Abundant foot traffic allows for natural interaction and parking spot turnaround guarantees that there is enough balance between the need for parking and the taking over of spots.
• Scale is a factor - As we take over more spots each year, it might be that there’s a middle ground between spectacle and large-scale involvement that could cause friction. If even two more parks are added within the vicinity of each other, our activity could become “annoying” or something that at least attracts attention from police. On the other hand, saturating a street with parks until there’s little that can be done to interrupt us without an inappropriate amount of force seems like a safer move (we’re talking about parks after all, not a mob). From a law enforcement perspective, it’s expedient to let a few get away with something out of the ordinary, best to curtail something as it starts to get out of hand and hardest to make everyone stop when critical mass has been reached. I think critical mass is about five parks strewn about, enforcing each other, creating a de facto happening, justifying its own existence.
• Materials, concept and volunteers - Sod and other day-of materials need to be collected in advance. The earlier the parks are deployed the easier it is to find spots. Activities go over really well and it would be great to have themed parks; one for reading, one for music, one for games, one for some sort of visual art, and one for just relaxing. Of course this takes some prep time and although we originally assumed one month would be sufficient, it is obvious more time is needed. Next year we’ll be stating to organize much sooner and seeking more support from organizations that couldn’t participate this year for lack of permitting and time.

Thanks to all who attended and supported us on Friday including our volunteers and the ReadysetDC crew. It’s inspiring to meet people concerned about the need for more green space and to have their help organizing fresh, lively spaces for public interaction within the District of Columbia.