PARK(ing) Day has become an international event in only two years, and will once again bring temporary PARKs to many places across San Francisco tomorrow. What a simple idea: take over parking spaces, set up a temporary autonomous park (grass, benches, couches, etc.), maybe feed the meter, and turn your ideas of urban living inside out. The people at Rebar have done well with this concept; it is now going to happen in at least 12 other USA cities as well as 10 international cities. Earlier this year, I heard Rebar give a report-back about another project of theirs, COMMONspace, at Southern Exposure’s Situationist-themed Annual Meeting event at the De Young Museum. That project also pushed the boundaries of public space, its use, meaning, and definition in the context of a private-friendly downtown.
Hopefully you won’t miss tomorrow’s great expression of literally taking back the streets. If you do, then organize your own PARK next year!