Boston looks to transform parking spots into small parks

The two parking spaces closest to the South Ends Wholy Grain cafe are just like thousands of others in Boston: patches of public asphalt hard against the curb, designated for vehicles. By this time next year, they could be a park.

City planners are refining a pilot program to turn parking spaces here and in three other neighborhoods into parklets - petite, three-season patios, with benches and planters atop platforms built flush with the sidewalk.

The program, boston.PARKLETS, follows the lead of San Francisco, which boasts 30 parklets, and New York, which unveiled the first of what it calls curbside seating platforms in 2010.

They are part of the growing movement to reclaim urban space for pedestrians and bicyclists and promote public transit. Mayor Thomas M. Menino has proclaimed the car is no longer king, citing the environmental, aesthetic, and health benefits.

It remains to be seen how willingly Bostonians, known for fiercely coveting and protecting their parking spots, receive the parklets.

Vineet Gupta, planning director for the Boston Transportation Department, said the city will work with merchants and neighbors to find appropriate spots, with the first parklets probably appearing next spring. They would scarcely put a dent in the citys 8,000 metered spaces and untold thousands of unmetered and resident-permit spots, but they would enliven areas with heavy foot traffic otherwise lacking in public amenities, he said.

The city will pay to design and install the first parklets, estimated to cost $12,000 each, while asking businesses, nonprofits, and civic associations to sponsor maintenance of plantings and furniture.

Wholy Grain owner Ken Hassett agreed to be the first partner, while the city is scouting sites in Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, and Allston. Should the program grow, local businesses or groups would be asked to pay for installation as well as maintenance.

As a business owner, Hassett said he likes adding a colorful, informal swath of outdoor seating near Wholy Grain, tucked into the first floor of a classic brick rowhouse at Shawmut Avenue and Hanson Street. As a resident who lives a few paces away, he likes what it promises to do for pedestrian life.

Some of the people Ive spoken to so far were slightly hesitant about, Oh, were going to lose a parking space, Hassett said. But then they began to think about it and think what a novel idea it would be.

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Boston looks to transform parking spots into small parks