Ok, so maybe I bit off a bit more than I could chew.  The route I originally mapped on Streetsblog had us visiting twenty parks at all parts of the city.  Thanks to arriving early, late, or just flat-out not being able to find the spaces we ended up making it to thirteen spaces in our over forty-mile ride that began in Culver City, swung through Santa Monica and ended in the Downtown.

Most of the spaces that we planned to swing by and hit were in the Downtown, and many of those were captured by Curbed and will certainly be on blogdowntown early next week.  As for the rest of our coverage, read on after the jump.

As for the Streetsblog ride, five of us left media park at around 9:15 in the morning and headed west towards Marina del Rey.  It turns out the sign for Del Rey street off of Washington Boulevard was missing so we ended up biking all the way to the coast and coming back.  When we finally arrived, the good folks of Cunningham Group Architecture greeted us with bagels and coffee.

From there we went back to Abbot Kinney and headed North.  One of the three spaces weren't ready yet, but we were able to see the beginnings of a space at Denizen and Greg Green Designs and DEX Studios.

Denizen and Green Design

DEX Studios show a unique bike parking idea.

From there we hit a bit of disappointment.  Lacking both a cross-street or a Santa Monica native we were unable to find the Venice Environmental Park.  All that talk about Santa Monica's Park(ing) Day policy and we missed their space.  Of course, since I don't know the hours of their park, it wasn't on the map, it's possible we rolled right by the space a couple of hours early.

From there we had the longest leg of the ride, and ended up at Hauser and Pico for the Metered Dance Station sponsored by Creative Seeds dance studios.  The studio does dancing events for children, seen here helping create the space, but some of the other pics in our pool show that you could comfortably dance inside a parking space if you were so inclined.

The children of Creative Seeds.

From there we pedaled to Wilshire/Western where there are usually a couple different spaces and this year was no exception.  Community Art Resources (C.A.R.S.) and CicLAvia planted two parks on the eastern side of Wilshire Western. 

I get some heat for supporters of CicLAvia because I often complain that L.A. won't sponsor those gigantic, car-free parties that started with Ciclovia in Bogota and have extended to several American cities.  Yet, I rarely point out that L.A. does have activists working on bringing a Ciclovia to Los Angeles.  You can follow their efforts on their occasionally updated blog or their Facebook page.

As for their spaces, C.A.R.S. had fruit and veggies for park visitors while CicLAvia had plenty of informational materials.  C.A.R.S. also had out a smattering of art materials for anyone that wanted to kick back in the shade and create something beautiful to rival the day.

C.A.R.S.

CicLAvia

I'm pretty unabashedly impressed with the amazing effort put forth by the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council with their mega park in Heliotrope and Melrose.  We headed there next for lunch and pool time.  This year, the pool was full, and I celebrated by not letting out a lot of the water like I did last year.

Oh, no!  It's the po-po!  Actually, they were just stopping for lunch.

Year two of my full-clothed submersion.  Does this make it a tradition?

We headed out from the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's park to hit the East Hollywood Council's other park.  Only EHNC and the LACBC sponsored two spaces, so hats off to each of those groups.

This park was located right in front of the L.A. City Light Yard, which EHNC is pushing to become an actual, year-round park.  The light yard is a great place for a park, in the middle of a high-density residential area, across the street from a library and surrounded by artists.  Good luck, EHNC!

Just because I didn't make it to the Downtown parks doesn't mean that I didn't get to see a variety of creative things.  Dancing, swimming, grilling and now we see catering company Jared Cooking working on a quiche on the street.

Up next was the Urth Yoga studio's park in the street.  They featured an accordion player, which of course is another thing I don't see on a regular basis.

From there we continued down Sunset Boulevard to the Echo Park Time Bank who had lemonade and soccer.  Hard to argue with the awesomeness of either of those things.  I honestly didn't know what a Time Bank was, but it's pretty much what it says, a collective whose purpose is to facilitate the cooperative exchange of goods and services among its members.  In other words, you give of your time and someone else will give you some of there's.  You can read more about Echo Park Time Bank at their website.

Then we rolled into the Downtown, but it was after three and of the three spaces we went to, all we saw was the Adobe Community at Traction and Alameda.

However, all was not lost.  We did run into a couple of Ridazz who escorted us to the one downtown park that was still open at 11th and Hope, called "South Park."

The LACBC and off street Park(ing).

From there the rest of my group split off to head all the way back west, and I had one more stop at the MacArthur park stop of the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition.  The LACBC was set up on the pavement by the Northwest entrance to the park.  When I pointed out that they missed the street, they told me they were chased off the street by nine members of the Rampart Division's finest.  For the record, everywhere I went we ran into supportive police and parking enforcement. 

However, the Rampart Division is the same group that reacts to pedestrians getting hit by cars by ticketing pedestrians even as cars run red lights right in front of them.

But let's focus on the positive, the LACBC had a big map of the area and some smaller ones. They were asking visitors to color in the map with the kinds of street improvements they would like to see to grow their advocacy efforts in the area.  A good idea to get some local buy-in before they start their campaign.

All in all, yesterday was another great day with a lot of great spaces and creativity.  I think next year instead of an all-day ride, Streetsblog will sponsor a smaller one and set up our own park.

Unfortunately, I have to announce some major changes to the planned Park(ing) Day ride for Friday.  Unlike last year, there aren't any parks planned for the City of Santa Monica so it seems like a bad idea to try and start a ride at 7:30 A.M. at the "Critical Mass Canon" because, well, there wouldn't be anything to do.

However just because Santa Monica doesn't want to be part of this year's festivities, a Park(ing) Day volunteer told me that the city was going to require a permit for every space because "parking spaces are for cars," doesn't mean we're going to ignore the Westside.

A quick note, I won't be carrying too much extra water or supplies so people are encouraged to bring their own.  We'll be "riding legal" and will make stops as time permits for supplies but the only stops that are guaranteed to have food are in East Hollywood so come prepared.  However, at every stop I'll be leaving a map to our next space.  So, if you're late and want to catch up or want to just do your own ride, you can just follow our maps.  We won't be leaving a map at the start of the Westside Ride because there won't be anyone staying at the park after the Greensters leave at 10:00 A.M.

We're still going to divide the ride into three parts, a westside, a mid-city and a downtown ride with the following starts.  For full routing, read on after the jump.

9:00 - Meet for the Westside Ride at Media Park, aka Crank Mob Park, in Culver City.  Media Park is on Venice Boulevard across the street with the strip mall with a Blockbuster Video and an In and Out Burger.  For those people preferring street addresses, the park is between Culver and Canfield Boulevards.  The ride will include four other stops and end in Venice at around 10:30.

11:30 - Meet at the Mid-City West Community Council Park(ing) space at the corner of 3rd and Fairfax.  They're space is right next to the Third Street Farmer's Market and this six space loop should end between 12:30 and 1:15 at the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's BBQ at Heliotrope Boulevard just North of Melrose

1:30 - We'll leave the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's spot, head up to Sunset Boulevard and then race down Sunset, through the Downtown and end at the Empowerment Congress' space in South L.A.  From their I'll be heading back to East Hollywood before heading home.  Riders are encouraged to hang out and head to Echo Park for the 7:00 P.M. "Ride-In" movie screening.

Here's the information for the full route, broken down by section.

Westside:

We'll start at the Load(ing) Zone, aka Crank Mob Park, aka Media Park in Culver City and then head down to the Cunningham Group's Architecture Park at 4056 Del Rey Ave in Marina Del Rey.  From there, we'll head to the space in Venice, DEX at 1338 Abbot Kinney Blvd., before ending with the stop at the Venice Environmental Park.  From there, anyone that's hanging with we will race up to Olympic Boulevard and head east until we hit Crescent Park Blvd.  We'll head North on Crescent Park until we hit Fairfax Avenue.  We'll take a right until we end up at Third and Fairfax.

Mid-City

The Mid-City Ride is going to be a big "U" until we head east to the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's mega-park.  At 11:30, we'll head out of Third and Fairfax and head South to the "Metered Dance Station" at 5443 W Pico Blvd.  From there we'll head North-East to the two parks near the Wilshire/Western Metro Stop.  We'll head North East to the Rios Clementi Hale Park Studio at 639 N Larchmont Blvd before heading to the park at Heliotrope and Melrose.  As I've mentioned many times before, they're having a cookout for carnivores and Pure Luck will be open for herbivores.  Yum.

After getting our fill we'll head North until we hit Sunset Boulevard and take it Downtown.  Along the way we'll stop at the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's other Park(ing) Day stop at 4590 Santa Monica Blvd.  and Jared Food's BBQ at 1036 Hyperion Ave.  Going down Sunset Blvd. we'll stop at the Urth Kula Park at 2809 W Sunset Blvd and the Echo Park Time Bank at 1525 W Sunset Blvd.  From the Time Bank, we'll head into the Downtown via this route before hitting the putting green at HMC Architects Park. From HMC, it's a shot hop to the Melendrez/Torti Galas park at 617 S Olive St.

From there we'll hit the Downtown Neighborhood Council's block party at Harlem Place, between 4th and 5th Streets and Spring and Main Streets. 

I estimate we'll be at their park between 2:00 and 2:30.

From there, we'll head through the Downtown to the Abode Community Park at Alameda and Traction before back tracking to the Park at Pembroke Lane, 1010 S Flower St.

Our last stop will require us to head south west to the Empowerment Congress North Area Development Council's park at Vermont Ave. and 29th St.  This marks the last official stop of the ride, although I'll be heading back to East Hollywood which is a great place to hang out for a couple hours and the spot of my traditional "end of Park(ing) Day hop in the pool."  From there I'll head home for a date with my wife who's on bedrest and you'll have a place to party before heading to Echo Park for the ride-in film.

While parks continue to be added to the Park(ing) Day map for the big day on September 18, there are enough parks listed that we can begin to sketch out the route for the Park(ing) Day ride.  The point of this ride is just to view the spaces that people are setting up, picture it a giant Easter Egg hunt through Santa Monica, the Wishire Corridor, East Hollywood and the Downtown.

Here's the first draft of the timeline:

7:30 - 8:00 A.M. - Ride starts at "The Cannon" in Santa Monica near the corner of Ocean and Colorado Boulevards.  Yes, the same place that Santa Monica Critical Mass starts.  From there we will meander through Santa Monica, stopping at several parks along the way, and down Abbot Kinney in Venice.

10:00 A.M. - We'll meet up with the Greensters leaving the Load(ing) Zone in Culver City's Media Park.  The Greensters ride is more of an activist ride than ours, as they're sporting the materials to make their own parks as they go.  From Media Park, we'll scramble through the Westside, West Hollywood and Hollywood until we end up at the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council mega-park.

11:30 - 12:15 - The East Hollywood at Heliotrope just north of Melrose park has a grill with burgers and dogs.  If you're a vegetarian, Pure Luck is open across the street.  Once everyone is re-charged, we'll hit Mid-Wilshire and head Downtown for the afternoon.

A map for the Downtown is going to have to wait for a little bit, as I expect dozens more spaces to be added for Downtown L.A. in the next week.  But rest assured we'll be done in plenty of time to grab another bite before the movie night begins in Echo Park.

Last year's Park(ing) Day space in East Hollywood. Photo: LA Streetsblog/Flickr

If that weren’t enough, Hernandez is a founding Board Member of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and Chair of its Planning and Beautification Committee. Partially because of his influence, the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council has become one of the city’s most progressive when it comes to transportation.  They’re the first council to adopt the Cyclists Bill of Rights, the first to participate in Park(ing) Day and the first to create a video with a vision for their community. And of course, who can forget the amazing ArtCycle event?

Photo: Rebel Without a Car

Hernandez is also a Board Member of the Friends of the Hollywood Cap Park and U.S. Veterans Artists Alliance where he produces a monthly improv comedy show called the
LAAVAA Slam in Culver City; but it was the high quality of last year's Park(ing) Day spot that led to this interview. You may remember East Hollywood’s elaborate series of spaces last year that included a grill, free food, street furniture and a swimming pool. Hernandez promises this year’s Park is going to dwarf last year’s. If you want to find out more, listen on…

I should note that we decided to do the interview outside next to Heliotrope just North of Melrose, in the heart of the unofficial bicycle district.  However, there was a lot of truck and car traffic, and a lot of people that couldn't figure out how to park in spaces where the head of the car would face the sidewalk and not the car in front of it.  We thought the street noise would add a second message to the interview, but do regret lacking the expertise to drown the woman talking on her cellphone during the first interview segment.

First we discuss Park(ing) Days past and present.  The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council have been such strong supporters of Park(ing) Day, that this year they may sponsor two parks, not just Hernandez's mega-park in Hel-Mel.  Hundreds of people visited last year's park, which is made possible with the help of the surrounding businesses.  Hernandez believes this year's will be the best one yet, and perhaps one of the best Park(ing) Day parks in the world.

The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council is one of the most progressive ones in Los Angeles.  Find out what they're up to from one of their founding Board Members and how they're vision for they're community has changed the way people think about East Hollywood.

When he's not volunteering, Hernandez works for the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust helping communities without park space carve out open space for themselves.  If you want to bring green and open space to your community, listen on to see if you're situation is a good match.

Mark it down on your calendar, September 18 is the date for this year's Park(ing) Day LA.  While some people find the event, ahem, a little nerdy; for Livable Streets advocates Park(ing) Day falls somewhere between their birthday and Halloween in their list of favorite holidays.

Last year, I pedaled about 30 miles with no companion except Gunpowder to visit fifteen different temporary parks.  This year, I'm opening up an invitation to everyone to join me for the First Annual Streetsblog Park(ing) Day Ride.  I won't have an exact route until we know all of the exact sites, but I expect the schedule to look like this.

9:00 A.M. - Visit the Santa Monica Parking Day sites then head to Mid-Wilshire.

11:00 A.M. ish - Visit the Mid-Wilshire sites and grab lunch

Afternoon - visit as many sites as we can Downtown

3:00 P.M. ish - End at the East Hollywood N.C. site in the Hel-Mel district.

When I have a final route I'll post it and people are willing to join me for as much, or as little of the ride as they want.  If we get enough interest, I'll try and figure something out for ride cards as well.

For the uninitiated, Park(ing) Day is a once a year global event where advocates, architects and people that love open space convert a parking spaces into small public parks.  The purpose of the event is to remind people of what we give up in the quest for low-cost parking.  What would you be willing to give up for more parks?  Last year's Park(ing) Day L.A. had over 70 parks.  The year before their were only 50.

Well, Park(ing) Day has come and gone and for at least another year, the urban jungle known as Los Angeles will be a little less green than it was for one glorious day last Friday.  However, Park(ing) Day isn't just about temporarily reclaiming some public land for public use, it's about raising awareness that whatever its benefits, there is a high cost we pay for the convenience of on-street parking.

The organiazation that did the best job, at least of the spaces I saw, of illustrating that point had to be Torti Gallas and Partners.  Some readers may remember that their "park" illustrated what the square footage required for a parking space could be used for, and what it would cost to purchase or rent if it were placed on the open market instead of being a subsidized place for private storage.  From their handouts:

As Urbanists we at Torti Gallas ask: what elements of public benefit could be accommodated if a parking space was used for things other than just parking? How can the space be reprogrammed? Could it contain small-lot affordable housing? Mixed-use development? Geothermal heating and cooling pumps? Vertical stacking areas for Smart Cars? A continuous linear park space for joggers and urban hikers? Profitable real estate for the City?

What is the city losing by giving over so much of its prime real estate to the car? What could the city and its inhabitants gain by taking some of this land back?
All together,the existing parking spaces in downtown could accommodate:
· 1,300 new two-bedroom units (at 1,100 SF per unit). The City could increase the supply of small-lot affordable housing.
· 13,000 parking spaces for smart cars,using six-story robotic parking facilities. Why design a parking space for a Hummer or Escalade? Why not design the space so that it encourages drivers to chose small compact cars?
· 4.6 miles of continuous paths. Downtown LA severely lacks green and open space. If the City were to take this land back from the car and give it to the pedestrian,we’d have a space that would stretch from here to Hancock Park . It’d be a linear green area that is as long as Riverside Park on the westside of Manhattan. Think of all the dog runs and urban jogging trails the space could accommodate!
· Enough geothermal energy to heat 2,280 residential units (at 1,100 SF per unit) and 26.5- office buildings (at 120,000 SF).

Throwing a few quarters into a parking meter,doesn’t reveal the true value of the parking space,especially in a dense place like downtown where property values are sky high. Parking the way that we do,for one or two quarters an hour,is an unfairly inexpensive short-term lease option for the storage of our vehicles,at a significant cost of our health,our housing,and the urban realm. It’s time to rethink the way streets are used and the priority we place on making room for cars.

Donald Shoup himself couldn't have said it better.  For a comprehensive blog coverage of Park(ing) Day LA, read on after the jump.

Blogdowntown:

SWA Group Illustrates Auto Emissions

CRA Doesn't Have a Guerrilla Park

Meter "Fed" in Little Tokyo

Park(ing) Day Prep on Winston

A Tiny Block, but a Multitude of Uses During Park(ing) Day

Guerrilla Parking Day Site Gets Un-Terminated

Guerrilla Parking Day Site Gets Terminated

LAist:

Where Do the Children Play?

Parks, Parks, Everywhere!

Park[ing] Day LA: 6th & Grand, Downtown

Bottleneck Blog:

National Parking Day Roundup

Johnny Law cracks down on parking day

National Park(ing) Day gets a foothold in downtown L.A.

Militant Angeleno:

Park(ing) Day MA

Sustainability Committee of Downtown LA:

Park[ing] Day LA 2008 Block Party

Curbed:

Reader Rant: (PARK)ing Day Ignored in the Valley

A Day No Cars Would Park: More (PARK)ing Scenes

Qualified Condition:

Park[ing] Day Los Angeles

Fade in LA:

Park(ing) Day LA

RIF Los Angeles:

Parking Day DownTown LA.

Epicanthus:

Hankook Park(ing) Day LA

Angelinic:

park(ing) day la movement lushes up downtown

Lillie in the City:

park[ing] day

If I'm missing anything, please put a link in the comment section and we'll make sure it gets included in the list.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, it's probably no surprise that Streetfilms' Clarence Eckeson was out and about in New York City on Friday on his bike shooting film just as I was on my bike taking pictures.  Eckerson reports that Park(ing) Day NYC had: 

...over 50 parking spaces temporarily reclaimed throughout the city, nearly doubling last year's total. I'll say this: that's a lot of freaking sod!!

I hope everyone had as great a Parking Day.  Here at Streetsblog we spent the day documenting as many of the parks as we could.  You can see the efforts from New York, here, here, here, here, and here.

In Los Angeles, I pulled my bike into 14 different parks throughout the day.  You can see all the pictures I took at the Streetsblog Flickr Page but for the best picture from each park you can read on after the jump.  Before you get into the pictures let me give apologies to the two parks I couldn't find that I wanted to get to.  The first is The Bus Bench's park at Union Station and the second was the Koreatown Performing Arts and Fixed Gear Society's moving park.  However, on Monday we'll be doing a follow-up post so get your Park(ing) Day LA pictures online and either email them or send me a link and we'll give them the praise they deserve.

After visiting the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's park, I pedaled down to Wilshire Boulevard to see what parks would be in the Koreatown area surrounding the Wilshire-Western Purple Line stop.  The first park I happened upon was by Mia Lehrer and Associates.  Their park doubled as a reminder of the damage that pollution can cause to the LA River.  In addition to the willows and"giant reeds" in the planters the shade was created by plastic bags and police lines.

Next was a park by the Urban Studio.  Their Park was an artistic rendering of the shadows of street vendors.  Despite being part of LA's street culture, they aren't "legal" in the eyes of the law.  To drive that point home, I saw a street vendor removed from their location about 20 minutes after visiting the park.  She was a senior citizen selling bottled water.

East Los Angeles College Department of Architecture had three parks in three spaces.  The first, pictured above, was a basketball court.  Behind it, and available for viewing in the Flickr Page were designs showing the fragility of an urban eco system and a mini-bridge for people to place some urban artwork.

One of the cooler parks that I saw was by the SWA Group.  In addition to showing the difference between driving and biking for the environment, notice the bike is "emitting" a stream of plants and flowers; they also had park visitors plant a green or yellow flag if their commute was by transit, scooter, walking or biking.  You can guess what the red ones were for.

From the SWA Group's park by 7th and Fig I biked down to Olive Street for "Melendrez Park."  I think they win the award for most plants in a space.  They also told me the story that a film crew for Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles was filming basically on each side of them and didn't bother them at all.  In fact, they were respectful of what they were doing.  Kudos.

Next wasn't a park but a quick visit to do some real estate shopping.  As, soon as that house back in Jersey sells...

Anyway, Torti Gallas and Partners took an interesting look at parking in Los Angeles.  To buy a piece of real estate in downtown Los Angeles that was roughly the size of a parking space, it would cost $77,000.  How much money do you think the city raises on their parking meters per space?  The one that Torti Gallas and Partners was in was $1 per hour.

For some reason none of my pictures for this space, or for Ladies Who Lunch came out.  Fortunately, Torti Gallas provided me with the one above.

Location, location, location.  EDAW Park probably got the most traffic of any space.  Their park was located right outside the Central Library.  I wonder why they didn't build their park over the 101...

The Los Angeles County Bike Coalition set up shot a couple of blocks from City Hall.  To help them celebrate, the city's DIY Department added a Sharrow right next to their park.  Nice!

I am so upset these pictures didn't come out for some reason.  This was one of my favorite spots.  No sponsors, no fancy design, just two friends, Jocelyn Sia and Nicole Eng, getting into the spirit of the day and setting up a park in Little Tokyo.

Nina Barbuto, the principal of the fledgling Awesome Studios earns bonus points for setting up her park in a pay parking lot near the corner of Rose and 3rd just east of Little Tokyo.  She gets double bonus points for providing shade with a tarp made of 200 black bras.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Downtown Neighborhood Council threw a block party with bands, exhibits and even a petition to create a dog park in the downtown.

I apparently just missed CRA/LA's park.  I hear it had a pool.  Hey, speaking of pools...

A quick bike and train ride later I was back at the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council's 4 parking space park in the Heliotrope-Melrose Bike District.  They had food on the grill, snacks available and, well a pool.   I should note that of the four metered spaces they were converting to parks, three of them were broken.

In same spirit of Ladies Who Lunch, two gentlemen set up their own park right in front of Good Luck in the Hel-Mel Bike District.  The Hitchin' Post park was my fifteenth and last stop of the day before heading home.