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Good lawd... why do these pictures of smug hipster trustifarians make my blood boil? Obviously they don't work and have nothing better to do with their time than to make the lives of motorists miserable. Life is difficult enough as it is without a bunch of do-nothing losers trying to make a pointless point out of public infrastructure. Why don't they do something useful for society?

I completely agree with hejiranyc. I'm so glad I'm out of town this weekend.

ETA Why don't they use this time to tell Villariagosa to extend public transportation instead of barbecuing in the name of being green?

hejiranyc-stop yer bellyaching!!! just because you are chained to your desk in your cubicle don't hate on these guys in LA.

back to work!!! how do you have time to look at this blog anyway? 50 lashes. j/k

Hallelujah, hejiranyc!

I don't keep a car in NYC but if I was trying to find a parking spot and couldn't because of something like this, those hipsters would be get their skinny-jean butts kicked!

I agree with thedirtyshow

I love being in California, and I wish I was out of the office today, too!

Damn kids! When will they learn that ideals don't get you anywhere in this world! Nose to the grindstone, whippersnapper!

Why don't they just move to the country? We have real trees here.

Ooooh, there's one a block from my apartment. I might go check it out if I can finish moving in a timely manner.

And um, hejiranyc... why don't YOU do something useful for society? What they're doing (promoting awareness) is certainly not BAD for society.

@hejiranyc, come on, you can do better than that. How about a little more misplaced anger?

They are paying the meter and trying to make a point that fewer cars and the requisite parking spaces and more green space would be an improvement. NOTHING ever happens unless people are willing to make it happen. SO sorry you'll have to park on the next block, but, hey, try using your legs once in a while.

And, really, just because they spend 2 hours doing this hardly means they don't have a job. And so what if some of them don't? What exactly do you do that is such a benefit to society? Surely you must be a cancer researcher? Or helping refugees find jobs and homes? A job does not equal self-worth, it's just a way to pay the bills. If one can do that without working 40 hours a week, more power to them.

@valleyval, this is a way of getting their point across - a very public and visible way that won't end up getting trashed in someone's email account.

sparkle, I DO do something useful for society- something called earning an honest living and paying taxes (almost half of my income!)- you know, stuff that these buffoons wouldn't know anything about. Furthermore, exactly what kind of "awareness" are they promoting? All it seems to indicate to me is "look at me, look at me... I'm so badass and I'm better than you." If they were so adamant about greenery, they would go somewhere and plant a real garden that local residents just may benefit from. They could go somewhere and plant trees. Putting down a piece of astroturf and firing up a carbon-emitting grill and cooking meat (even more detrimental to the environment) is hardly a "cause" that I can get behind.

And let's not forget all of the wasted fuel burned by motorists unnecessarily circling the block in search of parking...

Charmac, my thoughts precisely.

oh my god.

i can't believe (most of) you people! you are angry that some "hipsters" took a parking space and made it into something more meaningful than what it really is.. for ONE day?
have you lost your minds?

it's a lot easier to shit on what other people do than actually do something yourself.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for paying taxes though. it really makes up for us covering nature with cement. Really. thank you. you are a maverick. a pioneer. keep on keepin' on, and fighting tight pants.

Wow, I am a little bit stunned by all the casualties lost to generalizations and prejudice...skinny jeans and hipster hating? I am a hard working young professional who plans to visit her Parking Day in Tulsa, OK, AFTER work. It is created by the young architects in this area, and this IS relevant to their careers. (Plus, they are giving away Kartell's new black Philippe Starck bubble club sofa...bet that would make some of you reconsider!) AND I'm considering a pair of skinny jeans...

As a matter of fact, I do things for myself that are good for the environment, and I would like to think I lead by example. I bike if I am traveling within the city. I don't eat meat. My house has solar panels and ground source heat. I recycle and I conserve. However, what I don't do is act obnoxiously in public, waste other people's time and waste time and energy on a pointless exercise that only antagonizes people. No, I'm not a maverick, but at least I don't try to go out of my way to make other people's lives miserable.

check out Parking Day in little old Grand Rapids, MI....Herman Miller helped us out a bit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pfleghaar/

my coworker and i don't feel here or there about this, but she made a great point.....what is the difference if a car is parked in the space, or some skinny hipster trustifarian/artist/enviromentalist freak in some lawn chair??? as long as they money is going in the meter, why should it matter how the space is being used for 2 hours of one day? chill people!

and hejiranyc, you know they are doing this, i believe this weekend here in nyc?

Gosh
My husband is a performance artist and works at a gallery that pays people to do creative, eye-opening things like this. Art can get attention and not be liked by some, thats what makes it worth while.

It would be more interesting if these spots were actually visually interesting. Astroturf and straw don't a park make.

For all the haters here who think these people are nothing but slackers, did it occur to anyone they may actually have jobs but are just taking a vacation day to enjoy something different?

Jeez, reading some of these comments I'm waiting for someone to say "and I used to walk 20 miles through the snow to get to school with holes in my shoes" or something similar. Lighten up.

pfleghaar, seriously...lounging in a La Chaise in the middle of the city would be FANTASTIC! I'd support clubbing baby seals for that chair...okay, that was totally wrong...but not too far from the truth.

I kid, I kid.

RE: No, I'm not a maverick, but at least I don't try to go out of my way to make other people's lives miserable.

Yes, hejiranyc, their only goal was to make other people's lives miserable by taking up a parking space that would otherwise be filled with a car. You're right, those bastards.

hejiranyc-i applaud you for stating your feelings about this event. you are just as entitled to your opinion as those who feel differently.

ps. there is no member of society more judgemental than a hipster.

Everyone is definitely entitled to their opinion, Seaside - I agree with that.

Hejiranyc, I was just wondering what about these most likely EMPLOYED people being pro-green, pro-sustainable energy, taking up a lousy parking spot on one day of the year is considered in your words "act obnoxiously in public, waste other people's time and waste time and energy on a pointless exercise that only antagonizes people."

I highly doubt anyone's intention in this park/ing day is to antagonize anyone!

@hejiranyc: "I don't try to go out of my way to make other people's lives miserable." This is apparent from your first post. Not. ;)

I was driving to the library to drop off an overdue movie and there was no drop of parking space because there was a garden in it's place! Slightly irritating, but it was cute I thought. Then driving on 1st Ave downtown I saw a few more and thought, oh this must be something. And now I've just found out what it is. I'm in Seattle.