Park(ing) Day L.A. returns to park more parks

Last September, parking spaces all over L.A. turned into temporary parks -- for a few hours. Park(ing) Day Los Angeles brought activists and artists and other open-space-loving people together to take back the city spaces usually reserved for immobilized vehicles. Some environmentalists even towed all the materials for the temporary park -- benches and trees and other fun stuff -- via bike! (You knew I'd get a bike tie-in somewhere; it's still Bike to Work Week!):

And the second Parking Day L.A.'s coming this September -- September 19, to be exact. Put it in your calendar now! Planning's already under way, with the goal "to broaden the scope of Park(ing) Day L.A. and create a successful program of events, which will help celebrate the opportunities for creating public space in Los Angeles."

Want to be one of the happy park people? Then all you have to do is go to the next Park(ing) Day LA meeting, happening Friday, May 16 at 1pm at AIA Los Angeles, 3780 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800, Los Angeles. RSVP to will@aialosangeles.org.

If you can't make this meeting, don't despair. The Park(ing) Day L.A. group plans to meet the 3rd Friday of each month. Can't make any meetings? Don't fret. Says Will Wright, one of the organizers: "Of course, if you are interested in simply creating a park on Park(ing) Day - then you don't necessarily need to attend all of the steering committee meetings.  Yet, your early participation is encouraged and welcome."

Help shape the Park(ing) Day of your dreams! You have four months to design and figure out how to create your ideal urban park at a parking spot close to you.

A.M. Greenlist: Green people

>> Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke said the band didn't fly to perform at NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien because the trip would have created "a carbon footprint equivalent to driving a car for a solid year." Radiohead recorded a live version in London to air on the show instead.

>> Jason Hill, son of a General Motors designer, is designing greener, sleeker cars after founding Long Beach-based firm Eleven. "With its low, three-wheeled stance and a shape akin to a raindrop, the Aptera prototype is five times more slippery in the wind than a Toyota Prius and 25 times more than a Hummer."

>> Wangari Muta Maathai, the founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, spoke in L.A. about "simple things that can be done, such as recycling, planting trees, changing light bulbs and using public transportation."

>> USC professor Martin Kaplan praises Grand Avenue civic park plans for its potential to encourage civic engagement. "This place will be a stage, a setting, a platform for spectacle, an arena intended for every kind of public play and political performance that the city can muster."

>> With no shade, drinking water, or bathrooms at the Santa Ana station, Metrolink riders are tired of sweating it out. "Metrolink officials say the responsibility for making improvements ... rests with the city. But city officials say they share the concerns of Potter and others. The city has applied for funds from OCTA for the upgrades but won't know until sometime this summer whether it will get the money, officials said."

>> Peak water's coming fast, and cities have to learn to cope. Read about how Phoenix, London, and pretty much every major city in Australia are dealing with water shortages.

Photo by Gordon via Flickr

Pretty up our parks for Earth Day

Get your hands dirty in preparation for Earth Day! Join thousands of Cali residents from all over the state to pretty up the parks in your own communities on Saturday, April 19.

The 11th annual California State Parks Foundation’s Earth Day 2008 Restoration & Cleanup event invites all to "help restore the beauty of California’s treasured state parks." Volunteers will plant trees and community gardens, repair fences and boardwalks, restore trails and wildlife habitats, and remove trash and debris.

A bizzaro aspect of this event is that Chevron's an associate sponsor. I hope the irony of an oil company known for polluting California's own land and waterways -- and fighting tooth and nail so as not to have to pay to clean it up -- trying to align itself with a cleanup event done for free by volunteers, isn't lost on anyone.

In any case -- Let not the involvement of Chevron sully your eco-experience. You might consider taking alternative transportation to the park, keeping your money away from the oil companies. Unfortunately, the Cali State Parks Foundation provides only driving directions.... Hmmm....

Two separate events are planned for L.A. County, so check out the details and pick between the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve or Malibu Creek State Park. Remember to sign up; space is limited!

Orange and San Bernadino counties have their own sites too. See you in the park --

Bear to crash Dem Presidential Debates tomorrow

Edwards may have dropped out of the race, but one Teddy Mather -- a.k.a. a costumed bear -- is joining it a bit belatedly. Before the CNN Democratic Debate at the Kodak Theatre tomorrow, Teddy will show up toting an oversized-petition encouraging the presidential candidates to address national park issues.

This publicity stunt's planned by National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit, non-partisan group, in an effort to make parks a campaign issue:

Our national parks, including 24 in California, protect some of America’s most significant landmarks and landscapes. Yet they suffer from air pollution, development threats, a chronic lack of funding, and other threats. So far, few of the presidential candidates are talking about national parks, so Teddy is traveling across the country to help gain attention for park issues during the campaign season.

I'm not sure how successful Teddy will be; enviro's have been haranguing the candidates to talk about, and the media to cover, the bigger issue of climate change for months with little success. Still, Teddy should make for a cute photo opp if you plan to be in the area; he'll be hanging around Hollywood and Vine between 4 - 8 pm tomorrow.

Election-related events will be going on all day in front of the Kodak Theater. Among them: The CNN Election Express Yourself tour stop (11 am - 5 pm), The Barack Obama "Debate Visibility Rally" (2 pm), and the A.N.S.W.E.R. LA anti-war rally (5 pm - 7 pm; via blogging.la) -- and many others. My mention of these other events aren't an endorsement of them, BTW (I'm voting for Clinton).

All the action's almost enough to make one miss the Metro Westside Extension meeting for the Subway to the Sea! The first of that round of meetings also happens tomorrow, starting at 6 pm at LACMA West.

Photo courtesy of NPCA