What is Lancaster Park(ing) Day?
Last week, our team helped host Lancaster’s first city-wide Park(ing) Day event in recent years, and we’re grateful for everyone who came out, participated, and asked thoughtful questions.
Some of those questions were about how it was organized, who approved it, and whether it makes sense to temporarily use parking spots for something other than cars - especially during a busy First Friday. I want to take the time to answer those and share the vision behind why we did this.
Was this approved by the city?
In Lancaster, the city owns the street, but the Parking Authority manages and collects meter revenue. We spent the past few months coordinating directly with the Lancaster Parking Authority, who provided the spaces used for the event. They were fully on board, helped us plan, and even came out to take photos with us the night of the event. We also coordinated with the City (who was a participant!) to provide special insurance for the event.
Park(ing) Day actually doesn’t fall squarely into the category of an event that needs to be approved by the city - which is usually block parties, protests, or other events that involve shutting down streets or taking over large portions of parking.
Rather, this event simply take public space (parking spaces) and uses it for public purposes rather than private purposes (like parked cars).
At the end of the day, we followed the same process you might use when parking your car:
Pay for your space
Use your space
The only difference is that we used our parking spaces to benefit the entire community - not just one person parking their car.
Did this hurt local businesses?
We get this question a lot, and I understand where it’s coming from. If I owned a shop and someone took the space in front of it, I’d probably be annoyed too, at least at first. But here’s what we actually saw.
First, most of the 20 or so installations were done in coordination with the businesses in front of them. We had Our Town Brewery, Larkstone, Lancaster Public Library, and even the new Stevens & Smith Museum directly involved.
These businesses and organizations didn’t see Park(ing) Day as an intrusion on their space, but an exciting activity that helped bring more people to their doors.
One example: the library set up a kids’ play area where you could sit, read, and even check out books. That interaction brought new visitors into the library who may not have checked them out otherwise.
Another example: Evan Young at Larkstone offered two spaces in front of his storefront. His business does best when people are walking by and can stop, look around, and come in. And that night, kids had somewhere to play Jenga and try out blockprinting while waiting in line for the Print Crawl.
Foot traffic, not curb space, is what moves the needle for many small businesses.
What about people who needed to park?
This is the other big concern. But here’s what’s often missing from the conversation: downtown Lancaster has 946 metered spots. We used about 20. That’s about 2 percent. It doesn't include the seven parking garages downtown, all of which had plenty of space available during the event.
Even on the busiest First Friday of the year, there was still plenty of parking downtown.
So what's the bigger vision here?
There are two key ideas behind why we organized this event.
First, downtown Lancaster already has more lots of parking, and some of that space could be better used for other things. For example, two parked cars take up around 360 square feet. That’s about the size of a tiny studio apartment or ADU. Tenfold’s Coalition For Sustainable Housing actually built one of those in a parking space, just to show what’s possible. It was symbolic, not literal. The point wasn’t to put housing in the streets, but to ask a question:
Why is so much of our public land is reserved for private vehicles and not for people?
Second, we want to start a conversation about ending parking mandates in areas beyond the core business district. Downtown already doesn’t require new developments to include parking, and it’s still thriving. But in many other parts of Lancaster, residents and business owners are still required to provide a certain number of spaces if they want to start a business or create housing opportunities.
That means someone who wants to build an accessory dwelling unit, open a home-based business, or create an entertainment option might be stopped by parking requirements, not community opposition or lack of demand.
Eliminating parking mandates doesn’t mean eliminating parking. It means giving people more flexibility to build what fits their neighborhood.
The question behind the question:
who is public space for?
At the end of the day, Park(ing) Day is about starting a conversation in our community about how we use our land.
Parking spots are public land. Every inch of our city is a choice. And when we let people reimagine even one or two spaces for a single evening, we open the door for new ideas.
Maybe it’s a pocket park. Maybe it’s a food truck space. Maybe it’s outdoor dining. Maybe it’s a spot for live music or seating or housing or a bike corral.
To build the city we want, we have to always be asking: what else is possible?
We’re grateful for everyone who came out to Parking Day this year. If you have thoughts, questions, or want to be part of next year’s event, we’d love to hear from you.
Let’s keep the conversation going!