How L.A. Designed Simple Kits That Let You 'Make-Your-Own' Park

In Los Angeles, just 16 percent of the city’s acreage is dedicated to park land, placing it at 34 out of 50 cities ranked in the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore. So earlier this year, the city's Department of Transportation launched a program to address two common complaints: Los Angeles’s dearth of public green space and the seemingly glacial pace of issuing permits to experiment with new forms of public space use. The initiative, dubbed "People St," seeks to fast-track applications from community groups to convert streets into public spaces for one year, with pre-approved design options.

Prior to the launch of People St, transforming a metered L.A. parking spot into a pop-up park, as happens during events like Parking Day, would require multiple city department approvals, laden with paperwork. Now, People St provides a streamlined framework for approvals of three kinds of projects – a parklet, a plaza, and bike parking. Any group that requests one is sent a kit including instructions and incredibly detailed technical specs, as well as choices for plaza colors and patterns, and approved vendors for chairs and tables.