The City is telling us that the public “absolutely” will have design input on the new parklet coming to Tremont Street. It is also telling us that the parklet may arrive as soon as next month, well before any design input meetings could possibly be held.
In short, this is already a done deal and the City will never be particularly interested in what you think. We had one local meeting about the plan, attended by about a dozen people, and it was just a review of a site already selected by the green-ocracy.
We are supporters of the parklet concept, but we are also supporters of democracy. Meaningful public input on parklet site selection and design is crucial.
Last year, the City imposed another green business program on our public streets: the Hubway bike rental kiosks. Public input on sites and designs was zero. Some of the Hubway kiosks had to be moved after community groups noted they were in unsafe spots.
We don’t want to see that happen with parklets.