Park(ing) Day: 10 Hints For Your Own Park

CasaSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:00:12 -0700

Last week, I told you all about my plans for Park(ing) Day. Now an international event, Park(ing) Day turns parking spots in urban areas into temporary parks, as a way to highlight the need for green spaces in cities, as well as to show how much physical room cars take up.

My Sugar friends and I had a great time at Park(ing) Day! Since several of you told me that your interest was piqued, and that you might want to participate in this event next year, I thought I'd give you some tips on how to make your Park(ing) Day as easy and stress-free as possible.

To see my tips, as well as a huge gallery of photos, read more.

Educate yourself on the history of Park(ing) Day before you're at your park. Here's a good place to start.
For step-by-step directions, download a PDF manual.
Be friendly! People may know what your park is about, or they might have no idea why you're putting down sod in a parking spot. Tell them about the reasons behind Park(ing) Day, and invite them to join you.
Make friends with traffic cops and meter maids. The friendlier you are, the harder it will be for them to be stern. And in fact, the traffic cop across the street from my park was incredibly nice and loved the park!
Sod is heavy. And dirty. Plan accordingly. You should wear something that can get grubby, and also bring gloves. Make sure to lay down a tarp in your parking spot before you start rolling out your sod.
Activities are fun, but you might spend nearly the whole day talking. I brought Scrabble and bocce ball to my park, but most of the time I was explaining Park(ing) Day to people or shooting the breeze.
Bring friends! Not only will this divvy up your workload, but it will leave someone at your park while you run to the bathroom or grab lunch.
People love treats. I brought a ton of candy with to the site, but the big hit of the day was a bowl of tomatoes that had been picked fresh from my garden. Another park was making fresh smoothies!
Have a plan for your sod. I posted the sod for free on Craigslist, and almost all of it was taken away by the man that responded to my post.
Make sure to have change for the meter, and most importantly, remember to have fun!

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Cool Idea: Park(ing) Day Is Dog-Friendly

CasaSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:00:44 -0700

To get you excited for this Friday's Park(ing) Day park, I thought I'd bring you some cute photos from Park(ing) Day in St. Louis. Of course, I think what really takes this park over the top is the adorable cattle dog. Good thing the CasaSugar Sweet Spot Park will look even sweeter thanks to the presence of the Oz-Dog. Are you going to visit any Park(ing) Day parks in your town? To see if your town is throwing a Park(ing) Day event, check here.

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