Texas Tech University

What Houston needs: less parking, more parks

My San Antonio

September 16, 2016

My San Antonio - We were coal-rolled. A large white truck slowed down beside us in Rice Village. Because it was PARK(ing) Day, we had turned a parking space near Kelvin into a mini-park, filling it with plants, chairs, and pavers. As I stood and stepped into the street, thinking there might be a conversation there, the truck revved its engine and expelled a thick cloud of exhaust at us before peeling angrily down the street.

PARK(ing) Day is a response to all this. "It's a catalyst for changing perceptions about cities and public spaces," writes Adelle Main, who teaches urban design at Texas Tech University in Houston. Ben Niefield is chair-elect of the local section of the American Society of Landscape Architects. "PARK(ing) Day allows us to explore what our urban dynamic could be if we prioritized the pedestrian rather than the car," he writes.

Read the story here.