What does the beautiful city of San Francisco have in common
with Boston? Among some possibilities, one truth
is for certain; that they both will have parklets very soon. In San
Francisco, thirty of these small outdoor spaces exist, ones where
individuals have traded in their citys asphalt for patios with
benches and beautiful planters. The group behind this movement back
here on the East Coast is known as
boston.PARKLETS. Moreover, they are hoping to open
the first of these public spaces in
Bostons South End neighborhood outside of The Wholy
Grain Cafe in about a year already.
For the first location, just two parking spaces are enough to
get the ball rolling and truly show how far such a small territory
really can go towards providing more enjoyable, recreational
spaces. New York as well has even installed the first of their
public parklets in an effort to further promote public transit. In
Boston, much of the same holds true as well as the desire is to
push for more pedestrians to walk and use bicycles around the city.
In a past blog we
even mentioned just how successful walking and biking to work has
become in Boston, which was even ranked number one for this
combined category nationwide.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino perhaps termed it best when he recently
proclaimed, The car is no longer king. This indeed is the blatant
reality of Boston and many other densely populated locations across
the country. While beginning this parklet journey in the South End,
other Boston neighborhoods of Allston, Jamaica Plain and Mission
Hill are where these parklets may soon come to life in the future
as well. It still does remain to be seen how Bostonians will take
to the notion of the parklets; especially when considering how
valuable a parking space is to their everyday lives. Mind you,
there are only 8,000 metered parking spaces to be found across all
of the Hub, although so far there have mostly been proponents to
the idea.
The planning director for the Boston Transportation Department,
Vineet Gupta, informs us that they will be working closely with the
neighboring public as well as with merchants in order to properly
and appropriately locate where other parklets may soon reside. With
the first one slated to open next Spring in 2013, each of the first
parklets will be paid for by the city and are estimated to cost
roughly $12,000 to construct. Thereafter however, nonprofits,
businesses in the area and civic associations are hoped to continue
the maintenance of the parklet in addition to being responsible for
the supply of furniture and plants.
Regardless of these added fees mentioned above, the notion of
more outdoor space is always a plus, especially in Boston where it
is ever so popular. On many occasions, living in a city causes one
to live without a car or sacrifice it at times when we would prefer
its use. The hope is that by removing just two parking spaces (at
least for now outside of The Wholy Grain), it will have a much
greater positive impact on the morale of residents and visitors
within the South End neighborhood and ultimately will make Boston
an even more appealing sanctuary of a city than it already is
today.
More Information: Boston.com