Not all solutions require large bundles of money and years of work to implement. Communities in San Diego and in other states have had success in working with their traffic engineers to find low cost interventions. Other communities throughout the U.S., particularly San Francisco and Portland, have used low cost solutions to transform the way we think about streets. Did you ever think a parking space could be converted into a miniature park? Folks in San Francisco are doing this one parking space at a time. Some examples of this and more are below.

Paint and Signs 

A little bit of paint can go a long way. Painted crossings, for example, can dramatically change a street environment with the use of inexpensive bright, white painted stripes. 

In the early 2000s, residents of the University Heights neighborhood of San Diego banded together to request that the City install a crossing in front of the local Trolley Barn Park. Without a crossing, most people visiting the park from the south side of Adams Avenue were forced to dodge four lanes of fast moving traffic in both directions. After many months of interaction with the City to find the right solution, a brightly painted crosswalk and median were installed. Word on the street is that cars slow down for people crossing there making residents feel much safer.

In another example, residents and business owners of City Heights in 2011 approached the City to address pedestrian safety concerns at the intersection of 50th and University Avenue. Home to multiple businesses and mosques on either side of University Avenue, as many as 50 pedestrians each hour were crossing four lanes of high speed traffic daily. The City responded by painting a ‘high visible’ crosswalk and inserting cones to prevent cars from turning left. The paint helps drivers know that pedestrians will be crossing and encourages drivers to intuitively slow down.

Public Art

In Portland, Oregon a local non-profit City Repair helps bring residents together to paint neighborhood street intersections and transform them into public art pieces.

‘Streets are usually the only public space we have in our neighborhoods. But most of all of them have been designed with a single purpose in mind: moving cars around. With an Intersection Repair, that public space is reclaimed for the whole community. The intersection becomes a public space for people to come together.’ 

The design for each project is determined and implemented by neighborhood residents. The process is facilitated by an ordinance passed by the City of Portland in 2001 outlining expectations. If you’re interested in seeing this kind of project happen in San Diego, please click here.

Park(lets)

Every year on September 17 people around the world celebrate international Park(ing) Day. It’s an event to rethink how cities use land, and specifically how parking spaces might look like if they were turned into miniature parks or ‘parklets’.

The City of San Francisco has advanced this concept further than any other city in the world by officially converting pavement to parks. 

Spearheaded by the City’s Pavement to Parks Program fourteen new parklets have been built in San Francisco since March 2010. That number continues to grow as the City makes ongoing requests for proposals for additional parklets. 

If you’re interested in the concepts of Park(lets) in San Diego, please click here.

Park(lets)

Every year on September 17 people around the world celebrate international Park(ing) Day. It’s an event to rethink how cities use land, and specifically how parking spaces might look like if they were turned into miniature parks or ‘parklets’.

The City of San Francisco has advanced this concept further than any other city in the world by officially converting pavement to parks. 

Spearheaded by the City’s  Pavement to Parks Program fourteen new parklets have been built in San Francisco since March 2010. That number continues to grow as the City makes ongoing requests for proposals for additional parklets. 

If you’re interested in participating in Park(ing) Day in San Diego, please click here.