Parking

Localities create temporary park spaces for Park(ing) Day

by David Alpert and Matt Johnson   •   September 16, 2011 2:06 pm

Park(ing) Day spaces in Silver Spring, Dupont Circle and Downtown DC all temporarily claimed a few more square feet for parkland in busy parts of our region today.

In front of the Wilson Building in DC, Tommy Wells and David Catania's space drew groups of children, Councilmember Yvette Alexander, and more.

Photos by Anne Phelps and Tommy Wells.

In Silver Spring, the Montgomery County Planning Department, the DC chapter of the Congress for New Urbanism, the Green Commuter, Pyramid Atlantic, and Growing Soul all created spaces in a row. The planners used one space for a three-dimensional display about complete streets. Two other spaces have become temporary extensions of Veterans' Plaza, and 3 spaces contain displays on cycling, sustainability, and art.

Photos by Matt Johnson.

In Dupont Circle, Casey Trees set up the Park(ing) Day display with mock trees and some information about the value of the tree canopy in the city.

Photos by Casey Trees.

Finally, Arlington's Car-Free Diet folks created a video showing one way to use Park(ing) Day space: Arm wrestling.

However it's used, Park(ing) Day installations show how green space can further improve an urban area. Downtown Silver Spring, for example, is an extremely walkable place, but over 82 acres of ground is devoted to parking.

That's almost 22% of the land area of the CBD. And that number does not include on-street parking. In comparison, parks, plazas, and privately-owned open spaces make up only 21 acres—a little under 6% of the land area.

Today, public open spaces in downtown Silver Spring, Arlington, Dupont Circle, and Pennsylvania Avenue got a little larger, at least for the day.

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.