Park(ing) Day: Pop-Up Parks in Metered Spots

Join the annual build-a-green-space occasion.

Step into a metered parking space, whether it happens to be holding your car or not, and you may be searching your bags and pockets.

You're looking for coins, probably, or a credit card, if the parking meter takes credit cards, or your phone, which will have the needed information you require for the meeting or appointment that's next on your go-go-go schedule.

But step into a parking space on the third Friday in September and your experience may be wholly different: You might be searching for a novel, or your knitting needles, or a game, or something else that will help you happily pass an hour.

For that Friday happens to be Park(ing) Day, an alfresco occasion that sees a number of people, civic groups, businesses, and other organizations transforming metered street parking places into pop-up parks, at least for a few hours. 

And some of the pop-up parks truly come with all of the bells and whistles, including lawn chairs, umbrellas, fake grass, real flowers, and other touches meant to summon a state of sunshine.

It's "...an annual worldwide event where artists, designers, and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks." There are some to-knows, and you'll absolutely want to check out the regulations of your neighborhood before building your pop-up park, so start here.

Will you just happen by one, as you're running errands or to work, on Friday, Sept. 15

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You might. There's a pop-up headed for 707 Stanley Ave. on Sept. 15, a joint effort from the Melrose Business Improvement District, the Mid-City West Community Council, and Normandie Bakery. And should you be in Santa Monica, look for the pop-up "parklet" on Wilshire Boulevard near Second and Third.

Is your local neighborhood group gathering together in a parking space, all to create a public park that's brief, sweet, and a reminder of the pleasures of nature in the city?

Check in with your area peeps and find out if Park(ing) Day is coming to your slice of the city.

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