The promoters of a new park hope to provide a model for how replacing surface parking lots with green space can mitigate urban heat and boost urban biodiversity.
Writing in Greater Greater Washington, Wyatt Gordon describes plans for a new park in one of Richmond, Virginia’s most park-poor areas. “By converting a 381 space surface parking lot into a new public park, the Science Museum of Virginia hopes to show folks that the city can rebuild a more comfortable and climate resilient future for its main boulevard if only we’re willing to depave it.”
With only 7 percent of city land used for parks and green space, Richmond has less equitable access to green space than most U.S. cities, according to the Trust for Public Land. As Gordon points out, “A closer look reveals that the issue may be worse than the data shows as parcels counted as greenspace include cemeteries, road medians, and schoolyards that may not actually allow for safe or public access.”
Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, chief scientist at the Science Museum, plans to monitor changes in air and surface temperatures as the project moves forward. “The long-term hope is that other property owners and state institutions in the area with large surface lots may see the value of depaving and similarly shift their parking underground, stack it in a deck, or get rid of it altogether as Broad Street transitions to a more transit-oriented area.”
FULL STORY: From parking to a park: can one Richmond surface lot prove the value of depaving?
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
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.