Regional and Urban Design Committee

Attached is a link from UCLA for a pdf for creating and implementing parks in parking spots, parklets, "Reclaiming the Right-of-Way." What a great use of the public right-of-way, a spot for the public. 

http://www.its.ucla.edu/research/parklettoolkit.pdf 

-------------------------------------------
Drew Deering AIA
RUDKC Chair
Chicago IL
-------------------------------------------

I wasn't able to access the site via the link provided, but my general take on mini- or pocket parks and greeswards outside truly urban environments is that while they may provide visual relief from paving, they are typically underused.  I recall when I first started designing residential projects with internal greenspaces during the 1970s, how the argument for nodes of social interaction usually devolved to a bench at a path intersection.  Most of the time, these sorts of greenspaces are to this day used for walking, running, or biking through them - not for lingering.  Folks are generally coming or going rather than gathering.  Absent common reasons for informal groups collecting and interacting, open space remains just that - open.  Social interaction happens in spaces within dense, mixed use environments - places for being rather than simply passing through.  Shade can be an important element of these, but trees are not.  Plazas work best in relation to buildings and enclosing elements.  Perhaps agoraphobia is less intense in an actual agora.  There is such a thing as security in numbers.

-------------------------------------------
Gary Collins AIA
Principal
Gary R. Collins, AIA
Jacksonville OR
-------------------------------------------

I think their success depends on their location. Typically, the links shows areas adjacent to businesses, and supporting businesses. In many urban areas, the sidewalk has been reduce to such a limited width that it doesn't allow for retail, seating, or even capacity for walking. The parklets take a parking space and create an outdoor seating area. In other locations, we have pave over so much of our landscape that these examples are opportunities to reclaim space for human use, not cars. 

-------------------------------------------
Drew Deering AIA
CB Richard Ellis
Chicago IL
-------------------------------------------







Original Message:
Sent: 11-12-2012 15:23
From: Gary Collins
Subject: UCLA Guide To Parklets

I wasn't able to access the site via the link provided, but my general take on mini- or pocket parks and greeswards outside truly urban environments is that while they may provide visual relief from paving, they are typically underused.  I recall when I first started designing residential projects with internal greenspaces during the 1970s, how the argument for nodes of social interaction usually devolved to a bench at a path intersection.  Most of the time, these sorts of greenspaces are to this day used for walking, running, or biking through them - not for lingering.  Folks are generally coming or going rather than gathering.  Absent common reasons for informal groups collecting and interacting, open space remains just that - open.  Social interaction happens in spaces within dense, mixed use environments - places for being rather than simply passing through.  Shade can be an important element of these, but trees are not.  Plazas work best in relation to buildings and enclosing elements.  Perhaps agoraphobia is less intense in an actual agora.  There is such a thing as security in numbers.

-------------------------------------------
Gary Collins AIA
Principal
Gary R. Collins, AIA
Jacksonville OR
-------------------------------------------