A new study quantifies the amount of space devoted to parking in Los Angeles County—a figure that just begs to be visualized.
A recently released study in the Journal of the American Planning Association did an inventory on parking spaces in Los Angeles County—tracking the proliferation of parking across the county between 1900 and 2010. The big headline of the post: 14 percent of incorporated land in Los Angeles County is committed to parking. A stand-alone website for the study provides an abstract, of sorts, for the study, showing heat maps of parking (residential offstreet, non-residential offstreet, and total) around the county at 20 year intervals beginning with 1950.
Blogger Shane Phillips followed on the study to coalesce the data provided by the study into a nifty infographic that drives the point home a little more clearly. Phillips images all of that parking as one large parking crater—16 miles in diameter and taking up an area spanning East L.A. to Santa Monica. In real life, the area inside that parking crater fits 2.3 million residents, 900,000 homes, and 1 million workers, according to Phillips's calculations.
FULL STORY: Mapped: All 200 Square Miles of Parking in LA County, As One Giant Parking Lot
How Cities Are Slimming Down on Parking
Cities around the world are finding ways to go on a parking diet, freeing up unused space. San Francisco and Philadelphia are two U.S. leaders, while cities like Paris, Copenhagen, and Zurich pursue even more aggressive measures.
Unlocking the Curb Conundrum: How to Solve Our Parking Crisis
For Alan Durning, curb-parking territoriality is the root cause of many of America's urban ills, from housing affordability to economic vitality. He describes the circumstances that've led to the current state of affairs and introduces the way out.
Eugene Ends Parking Minimums
In a move that complies with a state law aimed at reducing transportation emissions, Eugene amended its parking rules to eliminate minimum requirements and set maximum parking lot sizes.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
