Nation Gains Hundreds of New Parks Today

SAN FRANCISCO – On National Park(ing) Day – Friday, September 19 – volunteers in more than eighty cities across the U.S. will create more than 450 temporary parks in public parking spaces. The goals of the event, according to organizers, are to celebrate parks and promote the need for parks in America’s cities.

National Park(ing) Day is sponsored by The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation nonprofit, based on an idea conceived by REBAR, a San Francisco art collective.

For a full list of cities, maps, and descriptions, visit tpl.org/parkingday.

“By turning parking spaces into instant parks, National Park(ing) Day creatively demonstrates how much our cities need parks,” said Will Rogers, TPL president. “Across America, cities are renewing their investments in parks, because civic leaders have come to recognize that close-to-home parks, gardens, and playgrounds are essential if we are to have cities that aren’t just livable, but lovable.”

In 2007, National Park(ing) Day spawned more than 200 new parks in more than fifty cities nationwide and around the world.

Photos from last year’s event, as well as a full list of cities with maps and details is available online at tpl.org/parkingday.

National Park(ing) Day 2008 is a concept created by San Francisco art collective Rebar in 2005 to re-imagine the potential of the metered parking space. In 2006, in collaboration with TPL, REBAR founded “PARK(ing) Day”: a global exploration of the creative potential of streets.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, community gardens, historic sites, rural lands, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than two million acres nationwide.