NORTHAMPTON — Curbside parking spaces were transformed into community green spaces in Florence and Amherst on Friday, marking the return of PARK(ing) Day.
Local architects, urban designers and students designed parklets that incorporated greenery, outdoor seating and games.
In Florence, two parking spaces outside of Friendly’s on Main Street were lined with potted plants. Inside the parklet’s confines was seating, a bike that generated electricity and a large rainbow umbrella.
Northampton Director of Planning and Sustainability Wayne Feiden said the purpose of Friday’s event was, “to get people to think about public space, specifically streets.”
Parklets were conceived in San Francisco in 2005 by an art studio called Rebar. Designers converted a couple of metered parking spaces into green space and since then major cities, like Chicago, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh and Seattle, have developed similar programs.
“We try to do a PARK(ing) Day every year,” Feiden said.
Rachel Loeffler, President of the western Massachusetts chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, described how design can shape and make urban spaces comfortable to hang out.
“When you look at the size of a parking space, it is often half the size of most people’s living rooms,” Loeffler said. Loeffler is a landscape architect for Berkshire Design Group.
“The installation is particularly good timing, because there’s a larger planning effort in Florence underway,” said Nate Burgess, an associate of Dodson & Flinker, a landscape architecture and planning firm. “We’re hoping that this is a small gesture to get people thinking about Florence and the future of Florence. We hope all of this supports good urban design in Florence.”
“We have a bunch of people from different area schools and lots of businesses,” Burgess said.
The last time Florence made major zoning changes was 15 years ago, according to Feiden. He said the PARK(ing) event was a kickoff to gauge the public’s opinion about future zoning and development.
Down Route 9, to Amherst, patrons sat in the parklet on North Pleasant Street. On outdoor seating, they drank coffee and read. They were cocooned by plants and additional greenery.
Sara Eddy, an Amherst resident and lecturer at Smith College, sipped her coffee in the parklet as she waited for her son to finish an appointment.
Eddy read online about “pop-up parks,” but never went to one before.
“I thought sitting here, instead of in the coffee shop, sounded nice,” Eddy said. “It’s good to remember how much we’ve paved, too.”
PARK(ing) days are funded by the American Society of Landscape Architects’ membership dues, Loeffler said.
“I think we are all hoping, to come out of this, to open up a dialogue with the public and the community about they like and what they experience in the public realm,” Loeffler said.