Parking in Boise can be a headache for drivers headed downtown for a morning stroll at the market or an evening out. But what if instead of competing with other drivers, trees and benches were taking up those spots?
This Friday, September 20, parking spots around downtown Boise will be filled with miniature parks instead of cars. That’s because PARK(ing) day — think green and tree-filled places, not where you leave your car — is back for its fourth year.
Boise will join cities all over to globe to take over streets and turn them into temporary public parks.
"If we continue to prioritize our roads for just one use of transportation, then we take that space away from people," says Cynthia Gibson, Executive Director of the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance, which is helping put on the event. The event will include bocce ball, ladder golf and an opera performance.
Gibson says that using parking spots as places of relaxation and play sparks interaction and communication we miss when we’re always in our cars.
“It pulls people into that space and it allows them to feel differently about it and have a different experience. And then it’s gone.”
She wants people to feel a loss when the parkelettes go away.
PARK(ing) Day activities will take place on 8th Street, 9th Street and Main Street this Friday, September 20, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Biking and walking to the event may be a good idea, as parking spots for cars may be limited.
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