On my ride into work this morning, I was surprised to see what appeared to be a small park located in a parking spot on Milwaukee Ave.  After a bit of poking around on the internet, I learned that today is PARK(ing) Day, a day when all around the world, “artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces:  temporary public parks.”  The project is a wonderful visual reminder of the need for more green public spaces, and even beyond that goal the project offers a small view at what a more car-free lifestyle could look like.

Industrialized societies throughout the world offer a tremendous amount of space for the use of the automobile – so much so that many no longer view this still relatively new infrastructure as a privileged transportation option, but as a necessity that must be a driving force (no pun intended) in all areas of development and city planning.  Meanwhile, the increase of public transportation and the walkability of a community are forced to take a backseat to the free flow of automobile traffic despite the inefficiency of that means of transportation and the suffering sense of community that comes from such an individualized system.

What PARK(ing) Day points out to me is that there is huge potential in the vast spaces currently devoted to automobile culture to be transformed into something that would benefit communities not only through decreased air and noise pollution and city beautification, but through safer and more plentiful shared community areas in which more food could be grown and distributed locally, and which would increase the viability of local businesses as more people take the time to walk along their parkways to find local restaurant and retail alternatives for the chains to which they were previously driving.

Take a walk today and think about how areas currently devoted to individualization might be better used to foster community in your area.  Slow down and be a part of the place you inhabit.