DC-area street parking spaces transform into temporary parks

WASHINGTON — Some metered on-street parking spots in the area will be temporarily reborn as tiny parks on Friday, this year’s PARK(ing) Day.

The day starts at 9 a.m. and finishes before the end of the workday. These pre-approved pop-up parks dot parts of Montgomery County, Arlington, Alexandria and the District.

DCist reports one park on Barracks Row that features an “open-access dining table” where people can eat breakfast and lunch together, and one on I Street Northwest that has an outdoor gym. There’s also a puppy-friendly park along K Street in the Mount Vernon Square area and an urban farm, among other things, in front of D.C.’s Wilson Building.

Started in San Francisco in 2005, the annual event aims to get people thinking about open public space and rethink its uses in a fun, engaging way. Past PARK(ing) Day events have spread to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Houston and even Singapore.

Find Arlington locations here and see Alexandria locations here.

Here are the locations of temporary parks in D.C.

And here are the spots participating around Montgomery County, namely in Wheaton, Takoma Park, Silver Spring and Bethesda.

John Aaron

John Aaron is a news anchor and reporter for WTOP. After starting his professional broadcast career as an anchor and reporter for WGET and WGTY in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he went on to spend several years in the world of sports media, working for Comcast SportsNet, MLB Network Radio, and WTOP.

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