AUSTIN — Mini parks will begin to pop up around the city on Friday as part "PARKing Day," an annual global event in which citizens and artists put their creativity to the test to transform parking spaces into temporary public places.
City of Austin Transportation has participated in PARKing Day for the past several years, and is encouraging community members to register for this year's event, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 21. The city is also working alongside Black & Vernooy Architecture and Urban Design to help participants create designs that maximize efficiency and incorporate more green space.
"Thinking about how big a parking space really is -- it's usually 10 feet by 20 feet, sometimes a little bit longer -- so when you think about two parking spaces together, that's 400 square feet, and a lot of people in the world live in 400 square feet," said Heyden Walker, an urban planner for Black & Vernooy. "If you get a big design firm like a landscape architecture firm, then they have a little bit more bandwidth to do something pretty elaborate. But it can also be put a rug out on a parking space you have a permit for and bring out some lawn chairs and visit with people. So, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want."
The outdoor patio space outside of Royal Blue Grocery on Congress Avenue is an example of what began as a temporary PARKing Day project. It has now turned into a permanent addition to the business.
"They did an installation on PARKing day. A pop-up, one day thing. They brought out some AstroTurf and some lawn chairs. People just enjoyed being outside and I think it really sparked the idea of, 'Wow we can have an outdoor patio!'"
The deadline to register for a PARKing Day permit is Monday, Sept. 17.
Details on how to get started on your PARKing Day submission and design can be found here.