I recently went to one of my favorite coffee shops in St. Paul -- Groundswell. I stumbled upon Groundswell a few years ago after a Yelp search for a cool place to do some homework. I have since enjoyed several brunches and even a community dinner at Groundswell. When I arrived this week, I was pleased to find a parklet on the street in front of the building. What is a parklet, you ask?
A parklet is a temporary sidewalk extension used to provide more space and amenities for people using the street. Parklets are constructed taking up a few parking spaces and are meant for people to stop and enjoy while partaking in activities on the street such as biking or walking by.
The first parklets were installed in 2010 in San Francisco. The idea has since spread across the country and has found a home in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the perfect places for these structures. The Groundswell parklet was installed by Friendly Streets Initiative, a St. Paul initiative that facilitates community organizing through creative public engagement events. This installation is part of a new project called “Parklets that Empower”. This plan hopes to achieve 3 goals:
- Install parklets near local businesses in St. Paul,
- Bring participating local businesses together as a group that supports active public spaces and
- Establish a formal parklet program in St. Paul.
This parklet is beautiful and sits proudly in front of Groundswell for anyone to sit and enjoy. While I didn’t feel like I could properly eat my salad on these benches, I admired it from afar and watched as a man was walking by and stopped to relax briefly on the parklet. While some might complain about removing prime parking spots on the street, the installation of a parklet is an awesome idea that should create community connections and dialogue. A parklet impact study was performed in San Francisco and surveyed 3 parklet locations finding, "The number of people stopping to engage in stationary activities significantly increased at all three locations, especially on weekdays." It also found an increase in bikes parked at each location. The business sponsoring the parklet cited slight increases in sales and foot traffic and no negative effects. The study found that parklets are positively impacting the community at large, especially the target neighborhood where the parklet is established. The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul hope to have similar results with parklets here in Minnesota.
Another similar initiative recently installed in front of one of my favorite spots in the LynLake neighborhood of Minneapolis is a section of bike racks. This also takes up some front and center parking spots but encourages other modes of transportation to get to the amenities in this area. LynLake Brewery facilitated these bike racks and seems proud to have "one less car" (according to their Facebook page) even though the bike corral actually takes up TWO spots. With room for 20 bikes, the brewery and surrounding businesses can attract far more people than could have parked cars in those two spaces previously.
Minneapolis and St. Paul are leading in great ideas and steps forward for people who bike, love the outdoors and want to be play a bigger role in their community and this is just one of many reasons that make me proud to live in the Twin Cities.
