Park(ing) Day 2009

I decided to take off work this past Friday and went out with a friend with a fairly flexible schedule to visit some of the temporary parks that appear on Park(ing) day, a day when parking spaces normally only used by cars are used for more people oriented activities. I started out trying to hit up the only Park mapped in the San Fernando Valley in Studio City. I was too early though and as I was leaving, I noticed the park components being unloaded from a couple of cars.

My friend and I took the subway to Hollywood and Highland and biked to our first stop, Hollywood Community Studio and Urban Outfitters park.




They were handing out maps with some of their favorite spots in Hollywood, including the largest tree on sunset and where the local Community Gardens are located. We asked for a drink recommendation and we ended up at the nearby Farmer's Kitchen, a small restaurant that serves in season local foods in a constantly changing menu.




Here my friend had some soup and we both had some refreshing agua fresca in an unknown lightly sweetened "purple" flavor. We were excited by the bike rack out front :)






The next stop was the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council BBQ and Pool Park. This was the largest park we visited. It was right outside of the Bicycle Kitchen and featured a pool, BBQ, a table from Guerrilla Gardens (I made some seed bombs with them!), music, shade, plants and places to rest.












































We happened to arrive here just as Damien Newton from Streetsblog LA and some others arrived as well on their ride. We continued on with them to the next couple parks.












Our third park was the East Hollywood Light Yard park.















This park had more of an art related emphasis, including completed art, art materials and a guy working on a painting.































For our last park stop, we continued to Silver Lake and up a hill to JaredFood's park.













My friend and I then biked back to Vermont and Sunset and caught the Red Line back to my apartment. We both had an excellent day and got to see new parts of the city and had a lot of fun. I also got a chance to take someone on the Subway for the first time, which is always an adventure in itself. The time and effort put into the parks was rather impressive. I enjoyed interacting with and being with people that see the potential in the city to be something better and more inviting for people. I'm definitely looking forward to this event next year.