Why PARK(ing) Day?

Downtown Toledo is experiencing an exciting revitalization: new investment, new businesses, community events, and more reasons than ever for people to spend time in the heart of the city. As downtown grows more vibrant, there is an opportunity to open up new ways of thinking about how people move through and experience our city.

A downtown parking study completed through ConnecToledo helped highlight this opportunity by looking at how on-street and off-street parking spaces were being used across downtown districts, including the UpTown District, Warehouse District, Government District, and Central Business District. The study found that during weekday afternoon periods, nearly half of downtown parking spaces were available:

• On-street parking: 1,035 total spaces, approximately 51% occupied
• Off-street parking: 19,362 total spaces, approximately 44% occupied

Since the study was completed, downtown has continued to evolve. The City has removed minimum parking requirements to create more flexibility for new investment and redevelopment, parklets have been installed following PARK(ing) Day efforts, along with a growing number of street closures and public space activations that bring neighbors, businesses, and visitors together.

This is an exciting opportunity to ask how can Toledo’s underused parking spaces become community spaces that build on these changes —streets that prioritize people?

For PARK(ing) Day, Toledo Design Collective explores that question in a hands-on way. For one day, parking spaces are transformed into places for people of all ages to gather, play, and connect. These small-scale activations invite us to see our streets in a new way. They also open up conversations about how our city can make it easier for people to walk, bike, and use public transit to get around. Together, they support the idea of a more people-centered, connected city.

Source: ConnecToledo Parking Study (2017) https://static1.squarespace.com/static/67b606ae1816390449f05502/t/687a523a84e3502ba933c599/1752846910039/on-street-parking-study-update-final.pdf