More space for PARK(ing) Day!

PARK(ing) Day 2009 on Hornby Street

Interest in this year’s PARK(ing) Day activities is beginning to pick up.  Sandra Thomas wrote a piece on our plans in the most recent edition of the Vancouver Courier, and Fairchild Media covered the initiative for the  Chinese community in this evening’s dinnertime radio broadcast.  On Thursday we’ll be showcasing Vancouver PARK(ing) Day on the Bill Good show on CKNW (and hey, if you feel like calling in with a shout-out of support…)

PARK(ing) Day is an international initiative that takes place on September 17 in hundreds of cities across the world.  The premise is fairly simple: in each case a metered parking space is transformed into something else – a greenspace, a “park”, a performance area, some sort of gathering space, etc.  Something, that is, other than a conventional parking stall. Among the few rules that the founders insisted upon was the fact that the venture be non-commercial.  The idea is to get people to re-imagine parking space as public space.

(As an aside, I think Courier author Sandra Thomas may have heard me wrong, as it’s not about “owning” the public space, but rather about re-claiming and re-purposing an existing type of space for something more than a single, stationary car.  But, minor quibbles aside, I think the spirit of her article gets things right).

We’re still working on the themes for this year’s venture and had a planning meeting earlier this evening to hash out some of the many possibilities.  Our project on Hornby Street last year was a charmer, and we had support from the local businesses, as well as oodles of visitors from the neighbourhood drop by.

For 2010 we’re hoping to take it up a notch.  We’ve got a few different sites in mind, as well as some to-be-finalized themes that we think will speak to Vancouver sensibilities in a unique sort of way.

We do need assistance with all of this… and are looking for volunteers to help with various aspects of the project, both for the planning and design work leading up to PARK(ing) Day, as well as on the day of the event.  If you’d like to lend a hand, please let us know.  And if you’d like to join in the fun and learn how to take over your own parking space for PARK(ing) Day, drop us a line too.  We’re looking to collaborate to make this the best Vancouver PARK(ing) Day yet!