This story first appeared in Rent Check PHX, a biweekly newsletter made for Phoenix renters, written by someone who’s lived it. Sign up for it here.
On Park(ing) Day, people around the world ask the question: If our societies were less reliant on cars, what could we do with all the space we use to store them?
In downtown Phoenix, local groups explored that question on Sept. 18 by taking over 11 parking spaces and turning them into places for the community to engage with each other.
“ You pay for the meter parking, and you turn it back into space for the people, for the public,” said Nicole Rodriguez, executive director for Valley Urban Action Alliance, the nonprofit that organized the event. “And it’s a way just to show people how so much space is allocated to vehicles and how it can be turned back into multiple different uses.”
MORE: How this downtown Phoenix resident lives car-free
According to Parking Reform Network, 22% of Phoenix’s “central city” land is used for off-street parking.
The reimagined spaces on Third and Taylor streets included a dog park, a mini pickleball court, a coffee cart from Maleta Cafe, a video game station, and a photo booth.
Steven Elisala, president of Urban Phoenix Project, the sister organization of Valley Urban Action Alliance, told Rent Check PHX that Park(ing) Day “ is really about asking that question: What does it mean to explore these public spaces for people-centered uses? And it’s allowing the public to really interact with that question.”
The event, which Rodriguez said brought in about 500 people, is also a way for aligned groups to share their mission and encourage people to join. The participating organizations included Trees Matter, Keep PHX Beautiful, Fuerte Arts Movement, Arizona State University’s Student Planning Association, Phoenix Councilwoman Laura Pastor’s office, Chispa Arizona, Downtown Core Community, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, and Encanto Pickleballers.
Park(ing) Day started in San Francisco in 2005 when a design studio fed a parking space for two hours and set up a mini park in it. It has grown into a worldwide annual event, with an online guide on how to participate.
“ We’ll be back here next year for sure,” Rodriguez said, “and it’ll be even bigger and better.”
Making Phoenix less car-centric
Elisala said that he sees increased mobility, access to local businesses, and more opportunity to socialize as advantages of a more walkable, bikeable city.
“ I think the benefits are really about the connections that you can make, those chance encounters that you would not ordinarily have otherwise,” he said.
Part of Elisala’s work at Urban Phoenix Project is organizing volunteers to advocate for policies that promote safer and more accessible transit options. For example, the group is asking people to sign a petition and contact their council members about developing a protected bike lane on Third Street between Roosevelt and Lincoln streets.
The group also started a petition to get rid of the reverse lanes on Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, which they say have confused drivers and hurt businesses.
Anyone interested in getting involved with Urban Phoenix Project can submit a volunteer form and sign up for the newsletter.
