WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Creative Corridors Coalition says millions of dollars in artistic lighting, artwork, architecture, landscaping and more can be a part of the newly renovated Business I-40 through downtown Winston-Salem.
The group will showcase its ideas for artistic lighting at a public meeting Tuesday night.
The ideas will include lights on bridges, lights in the median as well as lighted artwork, retaining walls , maybe even pedestrian bridges and landscaping with unique lights.
“They’re cool! They are really inspirational. There are lots of different options and lots of cool stuff,” Creative Corridors Coalition Executive Director Russ Dubois said of the ideas.
Dubois said the idea is to make the road a memorable entrance in the city which will help retain and attract businesses and creative individuals.
“We’ve got this once in two generation opportunity to do something to make it stand out and make it special. We’d be crazy if we didn’t take the opportunity and do something to make it extraordinary,” said Dubois.
Dubois estimates it will take $5 to $10 million to make the improvements along Business I-40. He said the group will start writing grant applications and soliciting private donations in the near future.
The non-profit group has already helped secure nearly $2 million in federal grant money and raised close to $400,000 for similar improvements along the Salem Creek Connector. That road is under construction now.
Creative Corridors was founded in partnership with the Winston-Salem Arts Council as a group of citizens interested in seeing the many major road projects scheduled for the area have a unique creative element to them.
Creative Corridors says it’s cheaper to enhance and improve the city’s roads and add character as the roads are being built rather than after they are finished.
For more information on the Business I-40 lighting or other road projects check out www.creativecorridors.org.
This is all Rosalind Creasy’s fault. The diva of edible landscaping, she has been preaching integration of all things edible for more than 25 years. Her own garden is her living lab, showcasing her passion for plants that feed both our bodies and souls.
Watching a recent webinar spotlighting Rosalind’s techniques, I was impressed with her gardens’ vigor, productivity and loveliness. She changes the garden often to illustrate how edibles can be used creatively.
Her most recent book, “Edible Landscaping,” is a stylish showcase.
Red tulips pop from speckled lettuce. Pears drape over an arbor. Red and yellow peppers pop from a crimson planter. Edible pansies and nasturtiums do-si-do with perennials. Herbs fan in front of giant lupines. Tiny cabbages march through a turquoise grid. Seeing is believing.
Edible landscaping is not a new concept. In days gone by, when a garden’s purpose was at its most practical — the feeding of our families — almost all of what we grew was edible. Flowers were an aesthetic afterthought. As we prospered, we flipped the equation, growing pretty things to say, “I can afford NOT to grow food.”
I say why not have it all? Beauty and food. An edible landscape can be as lovely as any landscape and feed you as well.
So, I skirt my Tardiva hydrangea with variegated thyme and grow its lemony cousin by my doorstep. I pluck tiny alpine strawberries from my herb bed and snip basil from a fat clay pot under a tumble of coral honeysuckle. And if I listen carefully, I can hear my best patch of black raspberries nearby whispering, “jam, jam, jam.”
And I’m just getting started. I want nuts and figs and espaliered fruit trees. I want more berries and enough greens to keep the bunnies and me well-fed. I want to snack from every garden bed. Is that really too much to ask? I think not.
So try some incredible edibles in your garden. It’s food. It’s fun. And it looks fabulous.
Annette Ipsan is the Extension educator for horticulture and the Master Gardener program in Washington County for the University of Maryland in Washington County. She can be reached at 301-791-1604 or aipsan@umd.edu.
Is there anything more lovely than landscape untouched by man?
It represents serenity, peace and a sense of “getting away from it all.”
Would that all our land looked like that.
Except it’s not really feasible.
An increasing number of Northfielders are moving away from typical grass lawns and incorporating rain gardens, food and herb gardens or natural landscaping instead.
The benefits to such a move are clear: Growing food is a cheap and healthier alternative to the grocery store and a great use of land. Rain gardens reduce the amount of runoff going into our sewer systems and eventually our waterways. Natural landscaping allows for less groundskeeping overall, which reduces the use of herbicides and other chemicals that may pollute the land and water.
But because we live in a city, there has to be limits. We cannot all dig up our grass, drop prairie roots instead and let it go. With that come the less pleasant side of nature: Pests such as field mice, possum and other animals that don’t mix well with humans.
And because we live in the land of free choice, it is neither fair nor acceptable for one neighbor to let their property go wild — literally — while others lose possible value because not everyone views prairie landscape in front of a home as a positive thing.
That’s why the city has developed what are fair guidelines. No weeds nor anything pushing 3 feet (that’s not a flower or bush). Fire hydrants must remain clear — that’s a public safety issue.
We should all feel free to cultivate on our property a yard that we can be proud of and that is enjoyable to use. But as residents of a community, we don’t live on an island. Our actions have an impact on our neighbors.
We have an obligation to not impose upon them anything that would reduce the value of their homes or their enjoyment of it.
BOSTON, MA — (Marketwired) — 08/06/13 — When people hear the word garden, many are likely to conjure up images of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Others may think of gardens as a personal hobby, while some may imagine public gardens such as Central Park or Versailles in France. The travel experts at Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, have discovered another dimension in the world of gardens and invite you to take stroll through their Top 10 Unusual Gardens from around the world.
We kick off the garden tour below with five breathtaking yet quirky gardens from Cheapflights.com’s Top 10 Unusual Gardens:
Las Pozas, Xilitla, Mexico – A “Surrealist Xanadu” in the heart of the Mexican jungle, Las Pozas (the Pools) combines man-made structures with exotic flowers, native plants, waterfalls and pools to create a strangely harmonious and peaceful garden. The gardens are the creation of eccentric English poet and artist Edward James, who bought the 80-acre former coffee plantation in the mid-1940s in an attempt to create his own Garden of Eden. Between 1949 and 1984, James built a total of 36 surreal concrete sculptures and structures on the site with names such as the House with a Roof like a Whale and the Staircase to Heaven. As of 2007, the gardens are maintained by the Fondo Xilitla foundation.
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Dumfries, Scotland – Science and mathematics plus sculptures and landscaping equal one fascinating garden of cosmic proportions. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation is a 30-acre garden created by landscape architect and architectural theorist Charles Jencks at his home, Portrack House in Southwest Scotland. Inspired by science and mathematics, the garden’s sculptures and landscaping are suitably based on everything from black holes to fractals. There is also a distinct oriental influence thanks to Jencks’ late wife Maggie Keswick, an expert on Asian garden design. While the garden is private, it does open up to the public one day a year as part of Scotland’s Gardens Scheme and raises money for Maggie’s Centres, a cancer care charity.
Rock Garden of Chandigarh, India – The saying goes that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, but in the case of the Rock Garden, a city’s junk was transformed into everyone’s treasure. Public servant Nek Chand began creating his masterpiece in 1957 from cast-off industrial and home waste he collected from demolition sites across Chandigarh. However, his chosen site was actually conservation land with a building restriction. He managed to keep his construction secret for 18 years and, when the authorities finally uncovered the garden, it had grown into 12 acres of courtyards filled with hundreds of sculptures. Thanks to public support, the garden was saved from demolition, and Chand was awarded a salary and a workforce of 50 so he could complete his vision. Today, Nek Chand’s Rock Garden is spread over a massive 40 acres.
A French Kiss in Akaroa, Christchurch, New Zealand – Held every year late in the New Zealand summer, the Ellerslie International Flower Show attracts a global audience of garden designers and garden lovers who come to see the best of garden design, gardening trends and new products. Founded in Auckland in 1994, the show moved to its current (and fitting) home in Hagley Park, Christchurch, New Zealand’s Garden City, in 2008. In 2013, landscape designer Ben Hoyle picked up his sixth Gold Medal for his sunken oasis called “A French Kiss in Akaroa” that featured a lounge pit filled with pillows where visitors could take in a unique view from below the waterline. The inspiration for the garden came from the history of the French settlement in the South Island town of Akaroa. Kate Hillier, exhibition manager at the Ellerslie International Flower Show said the garden, along with several others, had been donated to New Brighton — a coastal suburb in Christchurch that was badly damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. “We look forward to seeing the garden live on, brightening the days of people living in such a seriously damaged area,” Hillier said.
Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno, California, United States – Forestiere Underground Gardens are the creation of Sicilian immigrant Baldasare Forestiere, who built the garden over 40 years from 1906 until his death in 1946. Inspired by a childhood fascination with the catacombs in Rome, Forestiere built the Underground Garden as an escape from the scorching Fresno summer. Today a listed California Historical Landmark, the three-level underground structure is a network of rooms and passageways and features a summer and winter bedroom, kitchen, fish pond, a parlor complete with fireplace, and several subterranean gardens. Many of the garden’s plants are more than 100 years old and, thanks to the underground construction, are protected from frost over the winter months. The garden is home to a variety of fruit-bearing trees and vines from citrus to berries that were planted at different times, so the trees bloom one after the other giving a lengthened growing season.
Rounding out our list of bizarre gardens around the world are: Arctic-alpine Botanic Garden, Tromsø, Norway; Bookworm Garden, Sheboygan, WI, USA; Tarot Garden (Giardino dei Tarocchi), Tuscany, Italy; Jardin Majorelle, Marrakech, Morocco; and Poison Gardens, Northumberland, England. To read the complete details and view stunning images of Cheapflights.com’s Top 10 Unusual Gardens, visit www.cheapflights.com/news/top-10-unusual-gardens/.
About Momondo Group Momondo Group is an online travel media and technology company that is driven by the belief that an open world is a better world. The group now serves travel search and inspiration to over 13 million visitors a month — plus 6 million travel newsletter subscribers — via its Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.com) and momondo (www.momondo.com) brands.
Skygate began the sourcing of complex air-travel data in 1992, while Cheapflights pioneered the online comparison of flight deals for users in 1996 and momondo launched meta-search in the Nordic countries in 2006.
The Group has offices in London, Copenhagen, Boston and Toronto, with a consumer base across more than 20 core international markets but users all over the world.
Scratch the healthy muesli and freshly squeezed orange juice: why not chow down on a calorie-laden taco to start the day?
Compost, Worm, Soil, Gardening, Earthworm, Nature, Environmental Conservation, Environment, Healthy Lifestyle, Growth, Green Living, New Life,
Healthy soil is essential for healthy plant growth. At this time of the year, just before the growing season really begins, improving your soil is very worthwhile.
The aim is to help plants develop strong, deep root systems. By enhancing your soil structure, the little roots can spread more easily and develop those many little fibrous roots that are so vital for absorbing nutrients. Plants need to access 16 essential nutrients.
The balance of moisture in the soil is also critical. You need enough moisture to stimulate the beneficial soil microbes that convert nutrients into plant-accessible forms. Plants also need to be able to continually draw in moisture. Without water, the root systems will be poor. Waterlogging is also a problem.
Where you have rocks in the soil, remove them. Plants are adventurous and they will try to grow through rocky soils but it will set back their development. The other day we were transplanting a small apricot tree that had been growing in a rubble bed and we discovered one root had grown through one of the three holes in a house brick. We broke off the remaining brick to see a fat root structure with a 10-centimetre-long pipe section.
There are a lot of poor shale soils and densely packed clays – often with shallow top soils – in the Canberra region. Property developers are to blame for much of this, as they have stripped the top soils before levelling the ground. Clay subsoils are usually low in plant nutrients but if well structured they can compensate by being good at storing moisture. Too much clay or a compacted soil will prevent water penetrating and hinder aeration.
You can greatly improve soil texture by adding a few simple but essential elements. Apply gypsum at a rate of one kilogram a square metre and dig it into your garden beds of clay soils. Gypsum will aggregate clay particles and reduce high sodium content. Mixing in river sand will lighten the soil texture but you need a trailer load for a large garden area. Where the pH levels are very low (an acidic soil) dig in lime, which also helps aggregate the clay particles.
You want a good amount of organic matter throughout the garden. Add compost and other organic matter regularly to improve the tilth of the soil, add nutrients, help water retention and provide food and shelter for the micro soil organisms.
For the plants to access organic matter, you need a microbially active soil. There can be millions of microbes in a small garden bed if the conditions are right. They are the worker bees of the soil, breaking down raw organic matter, helping to access mineral elements and convert essential plant nutrients into the form that plants can access.
The plants’ roots release signals to nearby soil microbes about minerals the plant needs.
The importance of soil microbes is one of the reasons for avoiding harmful chemicals. Microbes work to bind clay particles to humus particles to form the wonderful clay-humus crumb. This crumb contributes to good soil structure with excellent ability to hold water.
Earthworms are also vital and should be encouraged to multiply in any garden. A good layer of mulch and good moisture levels are critical for earthworms. They help with breaking up heavy soils, allowing water and air to penetrate. They will also shred and bury organic matter and bring essential elements from deeper down. They secrete mucus that binds soil particles together and provides growth-stimulating nutrients to plants. And they leave behind those wonderful castings that add to the soil’s organic content.
This week
■ Welcome all frosty mornings in August. They usually herald a fine day with only light winds to get back into the garden. Heavy frosts are the best natural control of fruit fly and the run of cold nights provides sufficient chill hours needed for good pome fruit setting;
■ Plant out spinach and onion seedlings. Plant rows of snap peas and snowpeas. Complete planting out asparagus and rhubarb into richly prepared, deep garden beds;
■ Turn older compost heaps to aerate and speed-up the process of decomposition;
■ Fertilise citrus trees with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser or relatively fresh chicken manure around the perimeter of the tree – the dripline.
Owen Pidgeon runs the Loriendale Organic Orchard, near Hall.
Conservatory plants need extra special care during this summer’s warm weather, says TV gardener David Domoney, as recent temperatures across Britain soar to over 30 degrees.
According to David, “While the hot spell has been a real blessing after the wash-outs of the past few years and we’re all making the most of the glorious sunshine, remember to spare a thought for your conservatory plants as they may need a little extra attention due to the high temperatures.”
Currently appearing in the ITV1 hit series Love Your Garden with Alan Titchmarsh, David is a big fan of conservatory plants, which he says add a touch of class to any conservatory or orangery.
As Britain’s biggest home improvement company and a leading installer of conservatories and orangeries, Anglian Home Improvements asked David to pull together some top tips to help you keep your conservatory plants in great shape during the hot weather.
• Conservatory plants need humidity to help them thrive during the growing season, so simply use tepid water to mist plants in the morning.
• Group plants together to increase moisture around them, as moisture is evaporated from compost and transpired from the leaves, creating a perfect environment for healthy plants.
• House plants in South or West facing conservatories will require some form of shading, such as blinds or UV filters, which Anglian conservatories have. Choosing the right plant for your conservatory is key. If you are in a South or West facing conservatory use plants that like bright conditions and for East or North facing conservatories choose shade-loving plants.
• Too much heat can put plants under great stress, which requires increased watering and maintenance. Keep your conservatory well-ventilated during a hot summer’s day to stop plants wilting and drying out.
• Check regularly for bugs and watch for sticky deposits or black mould, as these are your first signs of pests! Quarantine the infected plant for two to three weeks and try to get into the habit of turning over leaves regularly when checking plants.
• Feeding should take place during the growing season when water frequency is higher (although there are exceptions to this rule when you have plants showing pale, yellow leaves, slow, weak growth or experience lower leaves dropping off). The three main constituents of plant food are Nitrogen for leaf growth, Phosphates for root growth and Potash for fruit and flowers, and most plants will require a feed once every two to four weeks. Garden centres have a good selection of slow-release fertilizer, pellets and sticks, or use a liquid feed which is an instant pick-me-up for tired houseplants!
• Prune your conservatory plants – don’t be afraid to prune plants if they get leggy or too big. The general rule is to prune after flowering or late winter/early spring, just as growth is starting.
To view more of David’s garden tips, including hints on how to make a great first impression for your home using hanging baskets and window boxes, visit the Anglian Home Improvements YouTube channel.
Established in 1966, Anglian Home Improvements is the UK’s biggest double glazing window, door and conservatory specialist. With almost 50 years’ experience, Anglian offers an extensive range of home improvement products, including double glazing windows and doors, Rooftrim, conservatories, orangeries, driveways, solar products and garage conversions. Further information on the full range of options and styles available can be found at www.anglianhome.co.uk.
Ends
Notes to Editors
About Anglian Home Improvements:
Established in 1966, Anglian Home Improvements is the UK’s leading home improvements company, responsible for the employment of 4500 people. With almost 50 years’ experience of providing uPVC double-glazing windows, Anglian ensures it is ahead of the competition with a continuing research and development programme. Anglian offers an extensive range of home improvement products, including double glazing windows and doors, conservatories, orangeries, solar products, garage conversions and Rooftrim.
For further information please contact:
Melanie McDonald at Anglian Home Improvements
01603 405911 Melanie.mcdonald@angliangroup.com
or
Jacqui Green at JGMPR
07885 270349 Jacqui@jgmpr.com
This press release was distributed by SourceWire News Distribution on behalf of Anglian Group in the following categories:
Leisure Hobbies, Home Garden, Environment Nature.
For more information visit http://www.dwpub.com/sourcewire
August is here, but don’t think about sitting back and enjoying a cool glass of lemonade yet! Even if weeds have run ramped, there remain a lot of gardening tasks to tackle.
Mark and label the location of dormant plants now, before removing dead foliage.
Even if you are cursing weeds, removing them before seed-set is incredibly important to weed control in the future. Take out those green sprouts now and compost them before seed heads form. Additionally, weeding now, especially around late-summer and fall blooming plants, will lesson root competition for water and nutrients. Consider summer weeding as necessary for a spectacular garden.
Look at your mulch very critically. Fluff up mulch that is compacted and add mulch to areas where mulch has decomposed. Two inches of fluffy mulch should be enough. Mulch provides a layer of insulation that maintains a constant soil temperature, reduces moisture loss from the soil due to evaporation and breaks down into organic materials that benefit the soil. Don’t over mulch, as this could be too much of a good thing, and water won’t reach the roots.
Continue to water wisely. A deep and thorough watering at the root-zone will yield a better result than just water the topsoil layer.
Container-grown plants need more water than those in the ground. Hanging baskets subject to drying from heat and wind will need to be checked daily. Check frequently for water needs of specific plants.
Lawn care and renovation begins now. Do a soil test and make amendments as suggested. Alternately, consult with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service GREEN Grass Program for analysis of your individual lawn and consultation regarding corrective measures that will make your lawn the envy of neighbors.
Vegetable gardeners, keep on! Continue to harvest, as harvesting will result in continued production. Search the web for fall vegetable gardening advice on the Virginia Tech website. Begin to plant cool season vegetables this month for fall harvest.
Harvest herbs now for drying and future use. Cut flowers now for drying and use later in flower arrangements. Hang herbs and flowers upside-down in small bundles in a well-ventilated space until dried.
Finally, make garden cleanup a priority. Remove fallen leaves, fruit and litter, especially from fruit trees, rose, peony and shrubs like photinia and pyracantha, or anything that suffered from mold or bacterial diseases this season. Dispose or destroy all material, not adding to your compost pile, to prevent problems in the future.
There is no end to the tasks of a gardener. Just remember to take time to enjoy the garden you have.
For more information, contact the Virginia Cooperative Extension Horticulture Help Desk at 24 Pehlam St. in Warrenton, or call 540-341-4950 extension 1, or by e-mail at http://www.fc-mg.org.
Fauquier Master Gardeners also have a table at the Warrenton Farmers Market on Saturdays from May through September.
Posted: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 12:00 am
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Updated: 12:17 pm, Tue Aug 6, 2013.
Garden tips for August
Ryan Sproul
Grove Sun – Delaware County Journal
Well it has sure been nice to get all the rains we have had over the last several weeks. Anytime it rains in July and August is good, but the amount of rain we have received is just plain awesome.
For this week’s column, I wanted to share some horticulture tips for the month of August. Give me a call here in the Delaware County OSU Extension Office at 918-253-4332 if there is anything I can help you with. Have a good week!!!
Vegetables
• August is a good month to start your fall vegetable garden. Bush beans, cucumbers and summer squash can be replanted for another crop. Beets, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, lettuce and other cool-season crops can also be planted at this time.
• Soak vegetable seed overnight prior to planting. Once planted, cover them with compost to avoid soil crusting. Mulch to keep planting bed moist and provide shade during initial establishment. Monitor and control insect pests that prevent a good start of plants in your fall garden.
Fruit and Nut
• Continue protective insect applications on the fruit orchard. A good spray schedule is often abandoned too early. Follow directions on last application prior to harvest.
Flowers
• Towards the end of the month, divide and replant spring-blooming perennials like iris, peonies and daylilies if needed.
General
• Water compost during extremely dry periods so that it remains active. Turn the pile to generate heat throughout for proper sterilization.
• Always follow directions on both synthetic and natural pesticide products.
• Watch for high populations of caterpillars, aphids, spider mites, thrips, scales and other insects on plant material in the garden and landscape and treat as needed.
• Water all plants thoroughly unless rainfall has been adequate. It is better to water more in depth, less often and early in the morning.
Trees and Shrubs
• Discontinue deadheading roses by mid-August to help initiate winter hardiness.
• Watch for 2nd generation of fall webworm in late August/early September. Remove webs that enclose branches and destroy; or spray with good penetration with an appropriate insecticide.
Lawn and Turf
• Grassy winter weeds like Poa annua, better known as annual bluegrass, can be prevented with a preemergence herbicide application in late August. Water in the product after application.
• Areas of turf with large brown spots should be checked for high numbers of grubs. Mid-to-late August is the best time to control heavy white grub infestations in the lawn. Apply appropriate insecticide if white grubs are a problem. Water product into soil.
• Tall fescue should be mowed at 3 inches during the hot summer and up to 3½ inches if it grows under heavier shade.
• For areas being converted to tall fescue this fall, begin spraying out bermudagrass with a product containing glyphosate in early August.
• Irrigated warm-season lawns can be fertilized once again; apply 0.5 lb N/1,000 sq ft in early to mid-August.
• Brown patch of cool-season grasses can be a problem.
Ryan Sproul is the extension educator, for ag and 4-H youth development, with the OSU Extension Services in Delaware County. For more information, or to contact Sproul, persons interested may call 918-253-4332 or email ryan.sproul@okstate.edu.
More about Ryan Sproul
ARTICLE: Dry conditions return to Delaware County
ARTICLE: Hypoxylon dieback and canker of pecan trees
ARTICLE: Dry conditions returning to Delaware County
ARTICLE: Private Applicator Certification
More about Grove
IMAGE: Hole-in-one
ARTICLE: Locals compete in Grand Lady Tournament
ARTICLE: Market matches farmers with consumers
ARTICLE: Funds for chamber top Grove council meeting
ARTICLE: District completes summer improvement tasks: $170,000 worth completed thru building funds
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is getting some free campaign advice in a forthcoming newspaper column from a University of South Carolina student. Jordan Cooper – a senior history major at USC – says Haley “must become more sensible and less detached.”
“Many tea party elements are based on unfounded claims and faulty evidence,” Cooper observes in a column to be published later this week in The (Columbia, S.C.) Star. “She must base her message on empirical data, and common sense solutions. Not sensationalism through media and emotions fit for soap opera.”
Cooper – who has worked in the past for Andre Bauer and Rick Perry – thinks the key to Haley’s victory will be making “stronger connections to citizens.” In fact he’s got several ideas for Haley on that front …
1. Using social media like oovoo to meet with constituents weekly, student leaders during the semester, and even tech savvy legislators during the year. Showing voters her cost efficiency and concern about the issues. And eventually being able to allow the executive branch to work from home one day a week using this software saving taxpayer money.
2. Conduct a weekly radio program for about ten to fifteen minutes that allows voters to call in around the state. Voters would then be able to receive free gas cards, grocery donations, and landscaping services for calling in to her program from her campaign. Additionally, it would show reception for insights from citizens and form a strong rapport with the public.
3. Implement a Governor’s Reading Program for K-8 students, environmentally friendly business plan competition for high school seniors, and wellness initiatives for senior citizens. Incentivizing 12th graders with a small scholarship, k-8 students with coupons from local businesses, and senior citizens with cruises sponsored by travel agencies for participation.
Hmmmmm …
We hate to rain on Cooper’s parade, but the S.C. State Ethics Commission is likely to frown on Haley’s campaign dispensing “free gas cards, grocery donations and landscaping services” to voters. Or maybe not … after all, Haley has committed numerous, much more severe ethics violations in the past (and gotten off scot-free).
Oh … and last time we checked her ethics committee was vacant. So who is going to hold her accountable?
As for step three, spending more tax dollars on government-run education initiatives is a demonstrably terrible idea – although based on Haley’s prior support for taxpayer-subsidized early childhood education (a.k.a. U.S. President Barack Obama’s signature education agenda item), who knows? She might go for that …
In 2007, I saw this in a residential neighborhood near central Copenhagen:
Alyse Nelson
A rack for 10 bicycles had grown where an on-street car parking space had been. In Copenhagen, where 50 percent of residents commute by bike, on-street bicycle parking was a sensible idea — fit 10 bikes where one car could go, thus freeing up the sidewalk from a cluster of parked cycles.
Fast-forward several years, and Copenhagen parking has grown up to bigger and pinker things:
This car-shaped storage unit provides secure, rainproof space for four cargo bicycles in a space equivalent to 1.5 vehicle parking spots.
On-street parking takes up a lot of space in North American cities: 5 to 8 percent of all urban land, according to UCLA urban planning professor Donald Shoup. If parking reforms — like pricing on-street spaces — reduce the need for curb parking in our cities, what will we do with all that extra space?
As it turns out, Northwestern cities are already trying out some exciting new ideas. In this article, we’ll look at four things parking can grow up to become: bike corrals, International PARK(ing) Day, parklets, and café seating.
In Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, this car-shaped bicycle rack creatively reminds people just how many cycles can fit in a space formerly used to park one car:
Since 2010, San Francisco has created more than 300 bicycle parking spaces — in racks known as bike corrals — in place of 30 car parking spots. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency [PDF] will consider installing a bike corral in places where demand for bicycle parking exceeds available space on the sidewalk. The MTA prefers to place corrals near intersections, which helps improve sight lines for all road users.
Streetfilms, an organization with a mission to showcase smart urban planning solutions on film, visited Portland to learn about bicycle corrals:
Streetfilms spoke with Portland Department of Transportation’s Greg Raisman about the appeal of on-street bicycle corrals. “There’s something that’s quite empowering about parking your bicycle on the asphalt. It’s a real equalizer,” he said. “It feels like … when I’m riding my bicycle or I’m driving my car, my community and my city respects me equally.”
On-street bicycle parking is just the beginning. With streets making up a fifth to a third of the urban land area (for example, 27 percent in Seattle, 25 percent in San Francisco, and 20 percent in Portland), cities have implemented a host of creative ways to use on-street parking spaces for other purposes.
One idea that has spread around the globe is PARK(ing) Day, an annual event in September in which curb parking spaces are transformed into people places for a day. It all started in San Francisco in 2005, when a design firm called Rebar turned a single on-street parking space into a temporary public park with sod, a bench, and a tree.
Since then, San Francisco’s PARK(ing) Days have included places to kick back and listen to tunes:
Card games, belly dancing, live cello music — these have all been part of PARK(ing) Day in San Francisco, as captured in a Streetfilms video.
Rebar decided to share its idea with the world, creating a free, downloadable PARK(ing) Day Manual [PDF] as well as graphics and posters for participants to use and a Google Earth map to track all PARK(ing) Day events.
In 2011, the event grew to nearly 1,000 PARK(ing) Day parks in 162 cities worldwide. Participants have adapted the design strategy to include temporary art exhibits, bicycle repair stations, and urban agriculture plots, such as this one in Seattle:
The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to “call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!” The temporary parks help people see the power of public spaces and imagine a future where less space is dedicated to the private automobile.
The success of PARK(ing) Day has generated enthusiasm for more permanent installations in parking spots. In 2010, San Francisco became the first city in the world to create “parklets” — mini urban parks that typically take up a couple of on-street parking spaces. Platforms raise the parklets to the level of the curb, ensuring ADA accessibility; other features include landscaping, benches, tables and chairs, and bicycle racks.
This San Francisco parklet has café tables:
Michael Pucci of Pucci Residential Design
This one in the Mission District is hosted by three businesses: Revolution Café, Escape From New York Pizza, and Loló Restaurant:
The city accepts applications for parklets once a year. Selected proposals go through a vetting process that includes public noticing and construction review. Parklets are built, insured, and maintained by private property owners but must be open to the public and subject to city inspection.
Even though parklets take up on-street parking spaces, they are placed in neighborhoods that are busy with pedestrian and bicycle traffic. That helps businesses see them as a boon. According to Andres Power of the San Francisco Pavement to Parks Program, “it’s the businesses that are clamoring for this most. There’s a nexus that helps us move beyond the concern over parking loss.”
Three years after the program’s inception, 40 parklets have grown in San Francisco, with 40 more in the planning and permitting stages.
Other cities are following suit. Vancouver has a pilot parklet program in place to turn streets into community gathering places. The city’s first parklet, Parallel Park, was built in 2011 in the East Vancouver neighborhood of Mount Pleasant:
The parklet takes the place of two parking spaces and includes a wooden deck, bench seating, and tables. Parallel Park was voted “Best Place to Park Your Butt for Free” by the city’s Georgia Straight newspaper, and it even has its own Facebook page.
VIVA Vancouver, the city program in charge of the parklet program, pitched the idea to business improvement districts across Vancouver. The South Hill Business Association submitted a proposal for the Hot Tubs Parklet, which opened in September 2012:
Unlike the parklet programs in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Seattle, which require that the converted parking spaces remain open to the public, the Street Seats pilot program built only private café seating that business owners restricted to their own customers.
The 2013 program allows public Street Seats sites and accepts applications from any businesses, neighborhood associations, and nonprofit groups.
Seattle is in the process of creating a parklet pilot program through its department of transportation. Although the exact locations have yet to be announced, several parklets are being planned for Seattle’s Capitol Hill, Belltown, and Chinatown/International District neighborhoods.
As UCLA’s Donald Shoup points out, “The upside of the mess we have made [with overabundant parking] is that we have an accidental land bank readily available.” From on-street bicycle parking to café seating, creative ideas for using public streets are spreading. Temporary oases such as PARK(ing) Day parks are inspiring people to think differently about on-street parking spaces, and permanent modifications such as parklets are providing welcoming gathering spaces in dense neighborhoods. As successful pilot initiatives blossom into long-term programs, we may yet see more vehicle parking spaces growing up to become people places.
