North Park Mainstreet

Parklets are coming to San Diego’s North Park Main Street district, but what is a Parklet? Parklets are the temporary use of space that are dedicated for the public’s use in the form of benches, tables, greenery and otherwise transforming public spaces such as parking spaces, unused bus stops, and other types of vehicular zones. In larger cities, such as San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles, Parklets are already commonplace and add more space for pedestrians, café patrons, and boutique shoppers alike to bask in and enjoy more of the outdoor space. Click to check out some sample parklets. This new demonstration program, which was spearheaded by North Park Main Street staff Angela Landsberg and Kevin Clark and supported unanimously by the North Park Planning Committee, will give the City of San Diego the opportunity to assess firsthand the social and economic benefits that are accrued from sidewalk extension infrastructure. There will be pre-installation surveys and post-installation surveys conducted at the Parklet locations. San Diego’s first Parklet will take up two parking spaces in front of Caffé Calabria, and will provide a place for the public to take a break from the bleak asphalt of the city. It’s beingmore

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North Park Main Street is a Business Improvement District (BID) in San Diego, California and is a joint program of the City of San Diego, the San Diego BID Council, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is primarily a volunteer based organization. The North Park BID is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the revitalization of the North Park neighborhood in San Diego. To do such, it follows the Main Street Four Point Approach TM, Design, Economic Restructuring, Organization and Promotion. North Park Main Street embarks on many ambitious and worthy endeavors, all aimed at bringing new life and a lasting vitality to North Park.

The Sustainability Challenge:

In 2009, Wayne Donaldson, California’s State Historic Preservation Officer, challenged North Park Main Street to become the state’s first Sustainable Main Street program.

Community leaders embraced this challenge and later that year convened a group of local stakeholders to develop the framework of a sustainability plan in North Park. Working in partnership with volunteer professionals at Platt/Whitelaw Architects, OBR Architecture, and Zagrodnik+Thomas Architects, NPMS drafted a
set of goals & objectives for a Sustainable North Park Main Street Program:

• Maintain the cultural and historic
  integrity of the built and social environment;
• Increase resource efficiency and
  conservation within the District;
• Increase internal community
  connectivity;
• Provide a setting for a sustainable
  green economy.

The Implementation Plan: (Download 18 MB PDF)
A volunteer effort over eight months enabled North Park Main Street to secure a grant from the State Office of Historic Preservation to develop the Implementation Plan, which is to be used in a number of ways:

• Using individual buildings as precise case studies, this Plan is intended to be used as a handbook for Main Street Sustainability Program Staff to educate and
  inspire building owners and business operators about how they can participate in the broader vision of a green North Park.
• By demonstrating the discrete components of a sustainability program, the Plan can be used by North Park Main Street to generate interest in potential funders to implement the various components of the plan.
• By illustrating the vision of coordinated public investments in the right-of-way,the Plan serves as a handbook for the public agencies and community advocacy groups who oversee and implement public works.
• Designed with “open architecture”, the publication is intended to be a living, growing document that can be augmented with additional digital building models, completed projects, or community proposals.
• The appendices serve both as technical manuals and as on-going records of the accomplishments of the district toward meeting its sustainability goals.