Parks & Parking Lots

Parks Parking Lots Private Pocket Lots

In addition to the main street or downtown distinct boundaries – adjacent parks and parking lots should be considered when applying any one of the toolkits. These adjacent spaces offer opportunities to draw families to parks or large gatherings to parking lots. Parks and parking lots provide large open areas that the rest of the main street or downtown might not have to offer.

Furthermore, adjacency to the main street or downtown should be considered with walking distances in mind. This may mean that the park or parking lot is several blocks off of the main street, which is fine. However, there does need to be a wayfinding system for pedestrians to understand how to navigate between the park or parking lot and the main street. Similar to the concepts discussed in the programming pages, there could be visible monuments, food & beverage, or other highly active retail that draws pedestrian o the open space.

It can be helpful to think of the parks and parking lots near the main street or downtown as plug and play elements. These plug and play elements can add additional outdoor seating if there is no desire to remove street parking or space for farmers markets and other temporary fairs. In other words, the parks and parking lots should be considered within the composition of the main street or downtown and how they can improve the experience in conjunction with the toolkits.