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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| How Free Parking Feeds Global Warming, and Other Bad Things |
| 2008-05-13 |
| We're so accustomed to abundant free parking that we resist paying for it, hate looking for it and, most of all, dread getting tickets. Turning to his computer, he showed me aerial photos of several cities to demonstrate how much land we waste just to give drivers a place to leave their wheels. "Parking is the single-biggest land use in almost any city and almost everybody has ignored it," he told me. "It's like dark matter in the universe: We know there's something there, and it seems to weigh a lot, but we don't know what it is. If only we could get our hands on it." The harm abundant free parking does feeds on itself: All that land dedicated to parking, which often sits empty for much of the day, increases sprawl, and that sprawl makes alternatives such as public transit and walking less feasible, which forces more people into cars, which increases the need for more parking. The good news is that all that parking space is an accidental land reserve for housing that can bring in tax revenue even as it helps ease traffic congestion, air pollution and energy dependence. Interesting, but it'll be a long time coming. Yet another way to achieve "energy independence" that's too painful to contemplate. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #8 LH: If off street parking was not provided free, mass transit relative economics would gain, esp in smaller downtowns, and denser suburban areas. My feeling is that a lot of people would simply move to a place where they can affordably park their cars. The smaller downtowns and denser suburban areas you mention would simply become less attractive to potential homeowners. I wonder what the impact would be on places like Detroit, Gary and Camden. Would charging residents for parking increase their attractiveness as cities? |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-05-13 20:25 |
| #7 Sub-IOW, the US-World will be "FORCED" TO DEV GEORGE JETSON'S FLYING CAR + RELATED??? D *** NG IT, SUPPORT DOC BROWN + YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD LOCAL MAD/FRANKEN-SCIENTIST BUREAU! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-05-13 18:01 |
| #6 So-o-o IOW, FASCIST AMERIKA - you know, the COMMIE USSA - needs MILYUHNS AND ZILYUHNS OF STATE SUBSIDIZED SOVIET APARTMENT HOUSING AS PER COMMPLAN, GOSPLAN, + NOW USPLAN, to empower the rise of OWG MEGACITIES = GLOBAL COLLECTIVES, AS SUPPOR BY OWG TRANSNATION/CONTINENT FREE TRADE ZONES??? HMMMMMMM, AGRI-ZONES, INFO ZONES, LIVING ZONE, CONSUMER ZONE, etal.??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-05-13 17:57 |
| #5 #3 If off street parking was not provided free, mass transit relative economics would gain, esp in smaller downtowns, and denser suburban areas. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-05-13 14:16 |
| #4 "Or maybe a group could buy the parking lot and do what they want with them instead of telling others, or fighting others plans at every turn." thats done in the densest city centers. Issues - 1 in many suburban areas, off street parking is mandated by zoning for developments of any size 2. favorable tax treatment - employer provided free parking is a perk thats not taxed as income, so its a preffered way to attract employees. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-05-13 14:15 |
| #3 Many of these ideas are based on the assumption that everyone lives in high density populations. Most are not economically sound. Even mass transit requires "mass" population to work. |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-05-13 13:20 |
| #2 Novel idea. That could just work. The investment of capital driving innovative solutions to today's problems. And because it is based on the private investment of capital, we'll call it Capitalism. |
| Posted by: Thinerong Pelosi7252 2008-05-13 12:43 |
| #1 How about a mandatory roof on all open air parking. The roof can have either solar panels or some kind of plants to suck up the carbon and make the city oh so beautiful on those satellite photos. Or maybe a group could buy the parking lot and do what they want with them instead of telling others, or fighting others plans at every turn. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-05-13 11:13 |