2021 and the Trend Toward more Urban Public Spaces
We've witnessed a sea change in San Diego. Since the general public had to stay separate for so long, we all learned about our innermost desires for regular human connection. Innovative strategies by restaurants and municipalities shifted more activities outdoors and have manifested a standard in urban public life. It is here where we are experiencing a long-overdue revival in creating socially and economically activated public spaces, and I'd like to highlight a couple of programs spearheaded by both San Diego County and our San Diego Chapter.

PARK(ing) Day 2021
As described in previous chapter newsletters this year, the annual event known as Park(ing) Day takes place in cities all over the world, turning metered parking spaces into mini public spaces (parklets) for an entire day--every third Friday of September. The goal is to educate the public, business owners, and in some cases municipalities on the ability of urban public spaces to increase the quality of life and economic vitality of their cities. It is also a form of "tactical urbanism," which tests a design concept with a temporary, low-cost construction. This shows the public and business community's reaction to the construction without committing to a fully budgeted project.
For Park(ing) Day, typically a single organization, department, or firm plans the installation of a single parklet that occupies one or more metered spaces. This year, our San Diego chapter broke convention by organizing and promoting a much larger and unified effort to establish many parklets across the County. We did this by presenting a detailed webinar in April which introduced the concept of Park(ing) Day, its history, and how to run a successful parklet.

 
For Park(ing) Day, typically a single organization, department, or firm plans the installation of a single parklet that occupies one or more metered spaces. This year, our San Diego chapter broke convention by organizing and promoting a much larger and unified effort to establish many parklets across the County. We did this by presenting a detailed webinar in April which introduced the concept of Park(ing) Day, its history, and how to run a successful parklet project.
Along 3rd Avenue, Chula Vista
Over the course of our efforts to create hubs of parklets in different parts of the County, we found our biggest opportunity for impact with the City of Chula Vista and their local business organization known as the Third Avenue Business Association (TAVA). TAVA represents a key main street in Chula Vista known as the 3rd Avenue Village has already experienced a major redesign over the last couple of years, with the widening of the sidewalks, protected crossings, planted areas, artful pavings, furnishings, and branded archways.
A new collaborative relationship has been christened between our ASLA chapter and the City of Chula Vista through our President-Elect, Patricia Ferman, who is Principal Landscape Architect with the City. She also connected our chapter with TAVA and their interim Director Kelly Lannom and their full board of directors. With Kelly's connection with the individual businesses fronting 3rd Avenue, we were able to establish over ten different parklets along 3rd Avenue by various organizations as well as businesses fronting the street. The City arranged a group permit covering all confirmed participants. Patricia and I were both interviewed by the Union-Tribune and television stations. The City of Chula Vista, TAVA, and our chapter plan to continue this annual event forward in perpetuity, so look for more announcements in future newsletters.

Our Own San Diego ASLA Chapter Parklet
Among those parklets along 3rd Avenue was our chapter's parklet space. Several of our chapter board members and volunteers spent months coordinating, planning, designing, and building the contents of our parklet design before the actual event date on Friday, September 17, 2021. A group of us arrived early at our staging area loaded up the vehicles, then headed down to the reserved space of three adjacent parallel parking spaces near one of the entrance arches into the 3rd Avenue Village. It was a lot of hard work but the final result was quite lovely.

Proposal for a New Public Space Advocacy Committee
The increase in attention to endeavors like Spaces as Places, the 3rd Avenue redesign, and the planned E Street Greenway downtown, has drawn the public's attention to sociable public spaces along the edge of the street right-of-way. On a larger scale, the incredible success of the Piazza Della Famiglia in Little Italy, and the future Gaslamp Promenade along 5th Avenue downtown will show how entire street segments can be completely converted toward permanent piazzas and promenades.
To further this ongoing trend, I will be formally proposing a new committee within our ASLA chapter that focuses on establishing and supporting urban public spaces for our urban communities, both in number and in quality. After the development of a basic charter, our board will vote on the establishment of this committee at our November meeting. I am offering to chair this committee at its onset, and the Park(ing) Day annual event will be its flagship event but by no means will it be limited to this. If you're interested in knowing more about this proposed committee, and you would like to be involved, please reach me at urbanplazas@gmail.com.

Welcoming Our Incoming 2022 Chapter President
and Thank You's
It has been an immense pleasure to work with Patricia Ferman over her time as President-Elect. She is the Principal Landscape Architect for the City of Chula Vista, and she will be serving as our President in 2022. She has been instrumental in establishing our chapter's relationship with Chula Vista and the 3rd Avenue Village Association (TAVA) for Park(ing) Day, and she very successfully co-organized this year's ASLA San Diego Annual Golf Tournament at Maderas Golf Club on October 11th. Our chapter will only benefit from her positive energy, brilliant insights, and meticulous attention to detail over her tenure.
Over my time thus far to serve as President has been a very fulfilling experience. I'd also like to thank my immediate predecessor, Brett Allen, who captured my attention for this role during the 2019 Annual Conference here in San Diego. I want to extend a thank you to all our annual and event sponsors who have put our chapter in a strong position to continue its goals.