Recent Streetsblog LA posts about Parklets

Spring Street: A Park(ing) Day Success Story.

By Damien Newton | Sep 20, 2013 | 1 Comment

“Over the past few years, the community along Spring Street has become much more tightly woven. The ‘bump’ factor happens all the time now. If not daily, then at least several times a week, I will happen across not only people that I know but that occasional person that I forgot I even once knew! […]

Parklet Party in Downtown Los Angeles

By Damien Newton | Feb 7, 2013 | 6 Comments

There were lots of cameras, but only one outlet broadcasted the parklet opening live. It felt like a political rally. “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow” was blaring from the speakers. One speaker at the microphone, LADOT Pedestrian Coordinator Valerie Watson, proclaimed, “It’s the dawn of a new day!” from the podium. Roughly 100 people gathered […]

Highland Park Parklet Not in Front of Restaurant? Attempts to Create Public Space For All

By Kristopher Fortin | Feb 4, 2013 | 1 Comment

The first of Los Angeles’s four parklets opened up Saturday on York Boulevard in Highland Park. While its the second of its kind in Greater Los Angeles, it may be one of the few parklets across the nation that isn’t tied to any one business as it sits adjacent to a crosswalk, and is in […]

City Council Poised to Approve Four More Parklets

By Damien Newton | Aug 21, 2012 | 8 Comments

(Note: Details on all three City Council hearings on the resolution authorizing four parklets to be built can be found at the end of this story.) By Friday, the Los Angeles City Council could give the green light to four “pilot” parklets. Parklets are miniature open space projects where one or more parking spaces are […]

Una Placita: Mercado’s Virgin de Guadelupe Shrine Creates a Social Space From a Parking Space

By Kristopher Fortin | Feb 23, 2012 | No Comments

The Virgin de Guadelupe shrine is one of the most recognizable landmarks at the Mercado de Los Angeles. The christmas lights that drape over the shrine make it one of the brightest and colorful spots in the Mercado parking lot at night, even with the Mercado only a few steps away. Though patrons regularly visit […]

The View from Long Beach’s New Parklet

By Joe Linton | Jan 24, 2012 | 4 Comments

Last Friday, January 20th 2012, Long Beach opened its, and Southern California’s, very first parklet. It’s located in Long Beach’s Retro Row district, on Fourth Street just east of Cherry, directly across from the Art Theater. It’s right in front of Lola’s Mexican Cuisine at 2030 East Fourth Street, LB 90814 (map.) The way parklets work is […]