Warren Karlenzig pays San Francisco a visit to tour its 15 "parklets", tiny urban public spaces carved out of underused road space or a couple of parking lots.
Karlenzig says that the parking spaces that are taken often include parking of a different kind - for bicycles:
"I took a cycling tour this weekend of the city's parklets, which offer cyclists a safe and convenient place to park their two wheels and take a rest with their steed.
In the Valencia parklet (...), which included edgy canopy steel structures, I counted 19 people hanging out, and 31 bicycles parked. The space was much livelier, more functional and attractive than any three cars could have ever been in the same space."
The parklets are part of a larger strategy for the city steered by the city's Pavement to Parks Program.
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