Park(ing) Day

If you downtowners didn't make it over to Peabody Place on your lunchbreak, swing by before you leave the office. It's our first ever Park(ing) Day, which means that seventeen groups have transformed parking spots into parks. The idea being that if more people used public transportation or human-powered transportation, we wouldn't need so many parking spaces. The groups were asked to re-imagine the parking spaces as parks, art space, or whatever.

The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat during the event.

There wasn't a competition for the best spot, but my vote definitely goes to brg3s for their Teeter Tire. That's the Downtown Memphis Commission's president Paul Morris giving it a try.



I also liked the benches with bicycle parking. Here you can see the impact of cars vs. bicycles on the atmosphere.



And an honorable mention goes to Crosstown Arts for giving away free food and iced coffee in their booth.

It's a really fun event that is worth a look. I'm excited to see this event grow. We'll have to get to work on a MLGW concept for next year!