The Park(ing) Day installation on Clement near 3rd Avenue. Photo courtesy of CurbedSF
On Friday, two neighborhood residents gave a preview of sorts for the upcoming parklet on Clement near 3rd Avenue. They participated in Park(ing) Day, a worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.
The small park was set up in metered spaces on the 200 block of Clement, in the same location where the new parklet is being proposed.
One of the men involved in the creation of the installation is also the artist behind the infamous pole gardens. He displayed several of them alongside the Park(ing) spot.
Patricia, a blog reader, wrote to us and said, “I stopped by a few times throughout the day and was so inspired and uplifted by the effort. It was a memorable way to connect with neighbors and passers-by. You can do so much within a small space– the creative possibilities are endless!”
This is the first Park(ing) Day installation we’ve had in the neighborhood since the blog came online, but not sure if it’s the very first since the Park(ing) Day event started in 2005. Not that it really matters – it’s just great to see residents having fun, being creative, and participating in the global event.
There were dozens of Park(ing) Day installations all over the city on Friday. Stop by CurbedSF to see a gallery of photos.
Sarah B.
Ok let me get this straight. SFMTA has raised parking rates for whatever BS reasons they come up with all the time. Then they have the bright idea of parklets reducing the number of parking spaces which provide the revenue they whine they’re not getting.
Same type of thinking when they raise MUNI fares and cut service and then try to convince people to take public transportation.
Then there are *already* a number of restaurants that have outdoor seating.
Glad to see the pole gardens though!
Ok let me get this straight. SFMTA has raised parking rates for whatever BS reasons they come up with all the time. Then they have the bright idea of parklets reducing the number of parking spaces which provide the revenue they whine they’re not getting.
Same type of thinking when they raise MUNI fares and cut service and then try to convince people to take public transportation.
Then there are *already* a number of restaurants that have outdoor seating on Clement st. that don’t reduce the number of parking spaces needed to bring people from outside the neighborhood in to shop here.
Glad to see the pole gardens though!
While I love the idea of parklets, I have to agree with Derek. This area is already lacking in the parking department, and taking away more spaces for any reason is ridiculous – cars are double and triple parked as is.
I don’t think that someone who just spent 20 minutes circling the 6 block radius to find parking, or tried to squeeze across the street over all the double parked or circling cars will appreciate the beauty, or that the greenery will make up for all the additional exhaust fumes created by it. Unfortunately, parklets make great photo-ops, but not so great neighborhood improvement or eco sense.
Pole gardens, on the other hand, are *awesome*! 🙂 More of them and other green micro-spots that don’t congest the already difficult car & pedestrian traffic would be wonderful.
Temporary public park? Looks like your neighbors garbage sale to me. What a joke
Hey here’s an idea: Get out of your cars! Walk to Clement Street to shop and dine and enjoy the neighborhood!
Actually, i think a nice car would look much better there…
There’s several parks few blocks away from here…
“I don’t think that someone who just spent 20 minutes circling the 6 block radius to find parking, or tried to squeeze across the street over all the double parked or circling cars will appreciate the beauty”
Okay, but here’s the thing: the presence or absence of a few parking spots will do virtually nothing to change whether or not someone has to spend 20 minutes circling. It’s not like there are 600 parking spaces and 601 visitors. It’s like there are 600 spaces and 3000 visitors, and most of them know that driving is pointless. It’s the same situation when there are 595 spaces and 3000 visitors.
Meanwhile, every one of the 3000 benefits from a nicer environment.
To throw every available square foot of public space at parking in a fruitless effort to compete with Stonestown, while ignoring the actual competitive advantage of the neighborhood, is really, really bad policy.
I would love to see more greenery and benches on sidewalk on Clement and other streets, but to my eyes this is just ugly; not to mention in the way, and inappropriate.
FYI – this was just a temporary installation for Park(ing) Day, not the parklet they will actually eventually set up.
I still think it is wrong way to go. Trees, flower pots, benches on sidewalks like in most European cities -yes, but a ‘parklet” in the middle of a traffic zone? with a parked cars and moving cars on three sides of that “oasis”? It seems pretty silly to me.
So many negative comments I had to post a positive one. Parklets around the city are really nice. There’s a whole site showing photos from the well designed and executed parklets. This photo does a disservice to the idea. I hope it gets support and funding and is created!
http://sfpavementtoparks.sfplanning.org/parklets.html has many photos of other places. The 22nd and Barlett one shows a cafe with its own outdoor seating and the well-used parklet in front of it.