Parklets - August 27th, September 17th and more

We are a group of Oakland residents passionate about getting parklets established in Oakland. They are creative and fun ways to improve the aesthetics of the street and create more open space for pedestrians. How are they Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism? They are more than this; I would call them Social Justice through Sustainable Design.

Parklets have turned into a global movement and all around the world on September 17th, people will be taking over parking spaces to make a statement about making our communities more about people and less about cars.

We would love to engage volunteers to help us on August 27th to start promoting parklets to the community at the Grand Lake Farmers Market.

We would also like to engage volunteers on September 17th when we will be installing one-day parklet demonstrations on Grand Avenue and Lakeshore Avenue as part of Park(ING) Day. http://parkingday.org/

Ultimately we want to build a permanent parklet on Lakeshore Avenue and now we are trying to educate the community and get them excited about these projects.

Here is a blog just in its infancy started for our endeavors to involve the community in our design and efforts : http://510parklet.wordpress.com/

What is a parklet?

A parklet is public open space created in an urban setting by taking over 1-2 parking spaces. The idea is to foster an environment that celebrates pedestrians and people. We believe the benefit of creating a public amenity for the enjoyment and use of those patrons and local residents far outweighs any cons associated with taking a parking space away to do this. We are all in support of encouraging people to get out of their cars and walk more. What better way to do that than to give them an incentive to come out and play here in the Lakeshore/Grand area.

Please contact me via email and let me know if you are interested in helping out and any questions you might have. Thank you!
sara_r_erickson [at] yahoo.com