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Boston Students Launch Kickstarter Drive to Grow a Parklet

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Parklets have never really bloomed in Boston like they have in other cities, including ones right nearby. Or if they have taken root they've wither quickly. A group of high school students at the Boston Green Academy, however, hope to change that; and they've just launched a Kickstarter campaign to do so.

They're trying to raise not only $12,500 for their own little green oasis, but "$50,000 that will go towards building an open source kit and curriculum to provide you the blueprints to build and customize public spaces near you with your students, friends, neighbors or colleagues." Instant parklet! Seriously, though, these are not some car-hating hippies in lawn chairs taking up the last spot on the block.

Instead, these high-schoolers want to craft a sort of souped-up parklet (the rendering up top gives you an idea of their ambitions), with myriad environmentally friendly inducements. These would include solar-powered charging stations for smartphones and, meta-ironically, bike racks within the converted car space, which would be off Park Drive, across from Mei Mei restaurant, itself Kickstarter-bred. There are 28 days left in the students' fund-raising campaign. Stay tuned.
· Website: Parkolation [Kickstarter]
· This Is Why Boston Can't Have Nice Parklets [Curbed Boston]
· Boston's Once and Future Parklets Boomlet [Curbed Boston]