PARK(ing) Day transforms Downtown metered spaces from The State Press on Vimeo.
For $1.50 per hour, Keith Mulvin rented a parking space in downtown Phoenix Friday morning. Sandwiched between a couple playing Mozart on a keyboard and an interpretation of Willy Wonka’s Park, Mulvin placed a single chair and a decorative plant in the curbside space on Washington Street and Third Avenue.Mulvin, an ASU alumnus, took part in PARK(ing) Day, a global event where participants transformed metered parking spaces into temporary public parks.
“Cities are for the people but (they are) built around the automobile,” Mulvin said. “They create this environment that is un-stimulating and very sterile.”
Mulvin walks or bikes everywhere as a downtown resident. He said events like PARK(ing) Day are the first step to creating a city built around pedestrians, not automobiles.
Stacy Champion, the organizer of the event, said it has grown steadily since 2009, the first year Phoenix residents participated in PARK(ing) Day.
In addition to the Washington Street and Third Avenue location, parking spaces were given makeovers on Second Street, between Fillmore and Taylor streets and on Fifth Street between Garfield and McKinley streets.
This is the first year that downtown ASU students had a presence at the event, Champion said.
The Dixie Devils jazz band performed in their rented space from 7 to 10 a.m.
UA community outreach coordinator Brigitte Jordan represented the University’s medical school at the event.
“We are a part of downtown, we are a vital member of the downtown community and we really just want to make sure that we are continuing to participate as a neighbor,” Jordan said.
In Jordan’s parking space, she demonstrated a new method of CPR that researchers from UA found to be more effective.
In the recent past, Phoenix has strayed from being a city with good walk-ability and is centered around cars, with narrow streets and sparse vegetation, Champion said.
The city is making strides toward more walker-friendly spaces, Champion said, citing the construction on First and Fillmore streets, where workers are expanding the sidewalk and adding trees to the landscape.
“Having those little bits of nature plugged in to an urban city grounds people,” Champion said.
This year, Champion converted her parking space into a mini dog park, complete with potted trees, lawn-chairs and her two dogs.
“PARK(ing) Day is basically just a fun and creative way to bring attention to reimagining how we use our public space,” Champion said. “People always say that there aren’t things to do in Phoenix or that there isn’t any culture. I urge people to help create what they don’t see.”
Reach the reporter at lghuffer@asu.edu
Photography by Lisa Bartoli
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