Friday was PARK(ing) day in San Francisco, where folks convert parking spaces into actual mini-parks. There were several dozen locations about town, and I decided to hop on my bicycle and visit the 7 nearest home.
It didn’t start well, with the park at Fulton & Masonic gone missing (odd, since it was sponsored by the SF Bicycle Coalition & FixMasonic.org), and the one on Cole & Beulah consisting only of a couple of potted plants in the street, and a garage sale on the sidewalk.
Lower Haight PARK
Down in the Lower Haight on Scott St., however, two gentlemen had a nice little park set up, with a sisal(?) rug, plastic chairs, water and lemonade. We chatted for a few, and I continued around Duboce Park and on to the park at Noe & Market.
Hula Hoop lessons at Noe & Market PARK
This was a fun park, with astroturf and a nice woman (Adriana?) giving hula hoop lessons. Lets just say that I’m not a born hula hooper….
Library PARK at Market & Duboce
A left on Market and a few blocks down the supposed park at Market and Church was also gone missing but shortly after that at Market and Duboce, was the best of the parks I saw, a full-fledged library (with WiFi!). I sat for a few and read some bicycling-related pamphlets and enjoyed sitting on turf as cars and trolleys rolled down Market St.
Hayes Valley PARK
Heading north now on Octavia I found the Hayes Valley park, smack in the middle of the business district. Although it was a nice park, featuring little totem poles made by a local artist, the people running it were too busy talking to each other, and paid their guests little/no attention.
View from Alamo Square Park
I found myself wishing I’d printed out a bigger list of the parks, since many were downtown and it was a short ride away, but I didn’t, so I slogged up the Hayes St. hill, stopped for a moment at Alamo Square to admire the view, and rode home.
PARK(ing) Day is a fantastic idea, and I’m glad it’s catching on in other cities. Next year I will be more organized and try to visit as many as possible.
What a terrific idea that is!
sounds like such a fun day and didn’t know anyone did such a thing!
Neat idea!
Yeah I think it’s brilliant. Downtown, the Ethicurean even had a PARK(ing) space with chickens in it. Look forward to next year’s and hopefully seeing many more of these little oases.
that is a really creative concept. Thanks for sharing this with us. very cool.
What a great project! I JUST LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!