Less Parking, More Parks
They Paved Paradise — Can We Unearth It?
by Jay Walljasper
“Everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it,†Mark Twain once quipped.
And the same could be said about the lack of public space in most cities, where the majority of  non-private property is taken up by highways, streets, and parking spaces.
In downtown San Francisco cars claim 70 percent of public space, which is what finally prodded a gang of artists to stop complaining and start doing something.
One fine day in 2005, they plugged the meters at a few  downtown parking spaces, rolled out 200 feet of sod, set up chairs and sat down to enjoy San Francisco’s newest “park.” (And somewhere Samuel Clemens, who started signing his articles “Mark Twain†while working in San Francisco, was smiling.) (more…)
