#parklets

afrovillage PDX MAX car parklet. pearl district, portland, oregon.

“The restaurants that are converting parking spaces to dining patios in cities across the Bay Area aren’t focused on aesthetics. With local governments’ blessing, they’re trying to survive the coronavirus-ravaged times in which we live.

Some are elaborate constructions. Others have a flimsy, spur-of-the-moment air. Your table might be on a wooden platform, a carpet of artificial grass or stark, unadorned asphalt. 

In a strange way, this is urban design for the pandemic age. Which means there’s a genuine need for basic standards that businesses should aspire to, no matter how ad hoc the tools. Otherwise, blocks could end up looking so cluttered and desperate that potential patrons won’t want to visit once the novelty wears off.

And by the way, don’t call them parklets: Those scaled-down public spaces allowed under San Francisco’s parklet program must be open to everyone, not just paying customers. Real parklets also have higher structural standards, since they’re intended to last. These nooks, at least for now, are only permitted to be place through December.

Here are six simple features to make great outdoor dining spaces in curbside parking lanes:

Involve the neighborhood.

Security can be stylish. 

“On Fourth Street in Berkeley, property owner Denny Abrams dug into his pockets to purchase plastic traffic barriers that each hold 1,100 pounds of water. There’s flooring to keep things level with the sidewalk, and each of the four faux parklets for Fourth Street restaurants includes a customized paint job by West Berkeley artist Constance Scott.

DIY is A-OK.

Show some spirit.

Look like you care.

Don’t fence us in. 

“Too many of the first wave of appropriated parking spaces were fenced off, literally — 6-foot-high enclosures using ready-made sections that probably were purchased at Home Depot. Viewed from a car, they hide the sidewalk and look ominous. For pedestrians, the sense of being boxed in can make it feel intrusive to be on a public sidewalk. Not only that, taggers have begun to leave their late-night marks on the fort-like facades.

Newly released city guidelines for dining platforms say that solid walls facing the street lane shouldn’t be more than 42 inches high.”

The first "parklet" in San Francisco was the work of Bonnie Sherk in 1970. I remember the “Park (ing) Day” events in the early 2000s. There was usually one on the main street where our offices were.

The City of Vancouver passed its latest budget Tuesday evening with a 10.7 per cent increase to the average property tax — a record high this century.

The city's original draft budget laid out an increase of 9.7 per cent, but Mayor Ken Sim announced an amendment to increase that number on Tuesday.

"I know increases like this are hard," the mayor said during a news conference hours before the budget passed. "Frankly, they suck."

Sim, who was sworn in last November, said the hike is necessary to improve core city services like policing, fire services, road work, sanitation and infrastructure maintenance.

Specific amendments that increased the property tax by an extra percentage point included:

Straßenverkehr: Hier wird der öffentliche Raum in Berlin neu verteilt, aus Berliner Morgenpost

https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/article235719413/Hier-wird-der-oeffentliche-Raum-in-Berlin-neu-verteilt.html Berlins #Straßen stehen vor #Veränderungen. Tausende Kilometer neuer Radwege – so sieht es der Berliner #Radverkehrsplan vor – sollen bis 2030 entstehen, dazu kommen gut Hundert Kilometer an #Radschnellwegen, die sich quer durch die Stadt ziehen. Zudem hat sich die rot-grün-rote…

Straßenverkehr: Errichtung von Parklets im öffentlichen Straßenland, aus Senat

Frage:Wie viele sogenannte #Parklets wurden seit Juli 2021 in Berlin unter Inanspruchnahme eines von der Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz eigens aufgelegten Förderprogramms auf öffentlichen Straßen in Berlin errichtet (bitte aufgeschlüsselt nach Bezirken)?Antwort:Die Daten können der nachfolgenden Tabelle entnommen werden:Bezirk Errichtet bis 27.04.22Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg…