Packing up the Parklets

Dec 03, 2015 8 years ago

Each year in University City we know the winter is truly approaching when it comes time to store away our Parklets, the popular temporary seating platforms that transform parallel parking spaces into a place to sit, relax, eat and enjoy street life. In keeping with the City's guidelines, we dissemble our Parklets before 12/1 each year for winter storage, and reintroduce them to the community again the following April. 

But just because the Parklets are put away in storage doesn't mean it's the end of their usefulness. This year we pulled the plantings from the soil in the embedded planters and have repurposed them at the traffic triangle located at 46th and Baltimore, adding a little more green to the neighborhood.  

Last winter we gained national attention due to the publication of The Case for Parklets: Measuring the Impact on Sidewalk Vitality and Neighborhood Businesses, a study that provides data and recommendations based on analyses of six Parklets in University City from the 2013 season and their ability to bring more life to public spaces and more feet to neighborhood businesses. Key findings from the report led us to work with local businesses on 40th Street at Sansom to design and install the city's largest Parklet, which was immensely popular throughout the warm months. We look forward to continuing our research with the Parklets and re-installing them next spring. We look forward to continuing our research with the Parklets and re-installing them next spring. If  you are interested in hosting a Parklet at your business, please contact us