Phil Ammann
Who doesn’t love a nice park, even one as small as a parking space?
To honor National PARK(ing) Day, ridesharing service Uber will transform one parking spot in downtown Tampa into a mini park for the public to enjoy.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, Uber will set up a mini “park” – complete with artificial grass, games and Uber signage — located on a single parking spot outside of Chase Bank on the 200 block of East Jackson Street in Tampa.
First celebrated in 2005 in San Francisco, National PARK(ing) Day has become an annual event where artists, activists and citizens all over the country simultaneously “claim” a metered parking spot — paying the metered rate — and transform the space into a temporary park.
Held on the third Friday of September, National PARK(ing) Day seeks to raise awareness of how parking in urban areas are some of the most inefficient uses of space. Uber, which also is based in San Francisco, uses the event as part of its mission to tackle the parking problem by offering transportation alternatives to personal car ownership.
Uber is also encouraging residents across Florida to participate in this campaign by claiming a metered spot (legally) for their own micro park — which can then be used for artistic expression, address a variety of social issues or just a place to chill out.
As Uber and PARK(ing) Day celebrants say: No “park” is too small.
