The parklet movement has arrived in Cleveland. Earlier this month, the city’s planning commission approved a proposal for a parklet—a tiny outdoor space designed for social activities—by the Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corp. The “outdoor living room,” as it has been pitched, will be compact enough to fit into a single street parking stall.

Architect Jason Rohal, a member of HGNC, created the design for the parklet, which will feature stools, tables, and planters on an elevated platform shielded from the roadway by a half­-wall. Costs will total $15,000.

The relatively low­-cost installation, like most other parklets, is intended to increase the quality of the pedestrian experience in a neighborhood with an excess of cars and concrete. Cleveland's Gateway District, a busy neighborhood of the city, is the perfect testing grounds for the city's first parklet, which will stand outside of a popular restaurant on Euclid Avenue. The platform, which will be removable in case of emergency or for winter storage, could also serve as a stage for street performances.

The first parklets were designed in 2010 for the city of San Francisco, which now has an entire organization, Pavement to Parks, that oversees its dozens of parklets, publishes parklet manuals, and maintains a map of all parklets worldwide.

For more information visit clevelandgatewaydistricom .