Park(ing) Day Transforms Downtown San Diego Into Playgrounds

Friday, September 16, 2016

People toss bean bags in a parking spot remade into an urban park for Park(ing) Day in downtown San Diego, Sept. 16, 2016.

Park(ing) Day in San Diego turned at least 12 parking spots into urban playgrounds on Friday.

At sites around downtown San Diego, artists and businesses remade parking spaces into tiny front lawns with space for games and riding bikes. A parking spot at 4th Avenue and C Street became a backyard, complete with the game cornhole.

“When you live downtown and you work downtown, you don’t have big luxurious backyards you can play in or beaches you can lay out in,” said Angela Wells, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Downtown San Diego Partnership, which sponsored the event. “You make do with what we have, which is some parking spaces.”

Drivers turned to watch Wells heaving bean bags while they waited at the intersection.

The event started in San Francisco in 2005 and has spread to cities around the world. Organizers call it a global movement.

It’s a chance for artists to remake a tiny portion of a city, at least for a few hours.

This is the fourth year Park(ing) Day has been held in San Diego.

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Steve Walsh
Military Reporter

opening quote marks closing quote marks I cover military and veterans issues for KPBS and American Homefront, a partnership of public radio stations and NPR. I cover issues ranging from delpoying troops along the California border to efforts to lower suicide rates among veterans.