How Park(ing) Day Leads to Permanent Change

Is your community ready for Parking Season?

For over a decade, urban activists around the world have celebrated Park(ing) Day on September 20, marking a day when urbanists demonstrate new uses for parking spots and take the opportunity to propose more effective parking policies.

As Carlee Alm-LaBar explains in a piece for Strong Towns, “One powerful way for cities to increase their resilience and productivity is to abolish parking minimums. For local heroes, embracing this challenge often involves taking small steps before reaching the final goal.” This year more than ever, the movement toward parking reform is growing in small and big cities alike. 

Alm-LaBar uses an example from Lafayette, Louisiana to illustrate how temporary, low-cost installations can lead to permanent change. “The city worked with a nonprofit organization — ReCover Acadiana (now Civicside) — to host Park(ing) Day in 2017. That first year, it had 16 temporary installations in Downtown Lafayette. They were works of architecture, museum-inspired installations, a temporary fountain and a simple installation that foreshadowed enjoying a dining experience outdoors.” Less than a year later, the city began permitting parklets and outdoor dining spaces in former parking spots.