When parking was for trees

City Lab - Across plenty of cities today, miniature parklets will sprout up in parking spaces, marking the tradition of tactical urbanism known as Park(ing) Day. But did you know that the roots of the word “parking” actually originates from planting trees?

That’s what one former researcher at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation found out while exploring the history of street trees. In 1870, Congress passed legislation that authorized Washington, D.C. to set aside half the width of the street for “parking on either side of the street,” but at the time, the automobile had not even been invented: They were talking about planting trees and smaller plants to create parks for pedestrians. Imagine if Washington had stuck with that streetscape.