Photos of Park(ing) Day 2009

You can check out all the great picture so Park(ing) Day 2009 here. If you have any pictures you would like to add to this that you took, please, drop them our way. This is not a one time event and we hope to grow a healthy backlog of pictures as this event grows over the years.

Park(ing) Day - A HUGE Success!

I want to thank everyone that helped out to make Park(ing) Day 2009 - Bellingham the success it was! To all the volunteers, Stall Captains, and Parking Attendants, this event showed our community a new side to what their public spaces could be. Today they did not drive to work and see the same blank asphalt lined with cars and white paint. They stopped, thought, smiled, maybe were a little flummoxed, talked, engaged, discussed, and created an event that will most likely become an annual event to support our community and its best interests.

The Bellingham Herald will be running an article tomorrow. The link to it is here. Jared Paben of the Herald also posted some pictures of the setting up and the event itself.

Please check back here for an update of pictures, videos and stories. We took some great shots of onlookers, croqueters, and the mass of people that stopped by for lunch and after work! The organizers will be meeting up to edit the footage of interviews and reactions from passerbys. The comments were priceless and speaks to the urgency many in this community feel towards our downtown corridors and the production of livable streets.

We forsee great things for next year's event. We will be working on making it a larger community event that will expand on what was learned from this year's experiences.

From young to old, citizens were moved by what they saw and it truly made them think of what their town could be. Friends, let's work on making this a reality! We will see you next year and between now and then, please, take an active role in your community because it is we that make this city what it is.

Best,

Scott Pelton

"Head Parking Attendant"

See you tomorrow!

Folks, tomorrow is International Park(ing) Day an event we have all been waiting for and preparing for. A group of us will be taking a few trucks out to De Wilde's Nursery and grab our 1000 sqft. of sod (much prettier than asphalt, uh?). We plan to be setting up our parks around 11:30ish. If you have some extra time, want to get your hand on some sod and just have a great time, come one down to the corner of Holly St. and Cornwall. We could use your help to make this process efficient and a success!

Remember, check back here for updates on the successes and reactions to Park(ing) Day as well as photos of our time "parking" it!

News Flash: Cascadia Weekly article on Park(ing) Day

Amy Kepferle interviewed Seth and I last week for an article with the "Cascadia Weekly". Today it came out and she did a fantastic job relaying our interests to the community superbly as well as articulating what Park(ing) Day is. Go grab one, or read it here, and pass it along to friends. We are listed on the front page in bold and are on page 12.

Park(ing) Day is two days away and we have a lot to do: We will be organizing sod delivery, confirming homes for the sod post-event, and establishing stall themes. If you have an interest in ANY sod, please, contact us for pick up! We will not be wasting any of it.

News Flash: "The Cascadia Weekly" Covers Park(ing) Day

Remember to go grab your edition of "The Cascadia Weekly" tomorrow. Last week Seth and I did an interview for an article that will be coming out in that edition. We had a great lunch break at Bayou on the Bay discussing just how this event could influence our public spaces. Go grab one and spread the word!

Park(ing) Day is now, officially, legal!

As if there were any doubts, Park(ing) Day - Bellingham 2009, is now officially legal! We have every necessary city office signed off. A big thanks to our city officials and "Head Park(ing) Attendant" Seth Vidana for making this permitting process a success and keeping us on the straight and narrow. We look forward to seeing you on the 18th!

A Quick "How to" Guide for folks interested in park(ing) elsewhere

A How-To on Getting a Stall on your own for Park(ing) Day

On Sept. 18th, we'll be setting up for Park(ing) Day down on Cornwall and Holly. For those of you interested in joining us, all you need to do is show up with your Park(ing) Stall gear, set up, and kick down $20 to help us with the permit fees. Now, if some of you want to set up shop elsewhere in our lovely city, we've put together a little how-to. Mind you, it's not for the faint-hearted.

1) Write up a proposal describing the Park(ing) Day event with a list of businesses impacted by your park (the businesses directly in front for your Park(ing) Stall), the streets being used and the proposed time using them (I have posted an example of one here. Just alter it for your own street and times).

2) Contact each of the impacted businesses and get them to sign off on the proposal sheet.
3) Print out a "Temporary Right of Way Use Permit" from the City of Bellingham website: http://www.cob.org/services/permits/forms.aspx (under "Street" heading)

4) Take this proposal and business signatures to the Police Dept. to have them sign off on the "Temporary Right of Way Use Permit"http://www.cob.org/contact/police.aspx

5) Get the Fire Dept. to sign off on the "Temporary Right of Way Use Permit" http://www.cob.org/contact/fire.aspx
6) Get the WTA to sign off "Temporary Right of Way Use Permit" http://www.ridewta.com/

7) Get Public Works to sign off on the "Temporary Right of Way Use Permit" http://www.cob.org/contact/pw.aspx
8) Go to the Parking Office to rent a meter hood, if you'll be in metered parking. http://www.cob.org/contact/pw.aspx

8) Take the fully signed off "Temporary Right of Way Use Permit" to the Permitting Office with the business signatures stapled to the permit (and the receipt for your meter hood if you buy one.) http://www.cob.org/contact/pcd.aspx

Remember, you can always just come down and get a stall with us and not have to go through these hoops. (We'll have done it already!)