The effort to reclaim public and private spaces from car storage had some setbacks since the days of al fresco and open streets in the first years of Covid-19. But widespread parking reforms and new evidence shows the public is rethinking parking.
The empty streets and suffering business that defined the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic also prompted a fresh look at the public realm, inspiring many cities and communities to reclaim and transform some of the spaces previously reserved for automobile storage into spaces for other activities, such as play, dining, and exercise.
The programs that recovered parking spaces for more active, human uses retreated, to a degree, in the ensuing months and years: while some cities have made outdoor dining programs and parklets permanent, others have reopened streets to cars, rescinded permitting programs, and dialed back ambitions for a post-parking future.
Oliver Moore, writing for the Globe and Mail, makes the case that despite these setbacks for the cause, "the broader pattern is a gradual dismantling of the decades-long assumption that more parking is inherently better." Moore points to the parking reforms underway in Canadian cities, first in Edmonton, followed by more than a dozen other cities as support for the argument (the parking reform trend is also obvious in the United States).
"Perhaps the biggest recent shift in attitudes around parking has been the recognition of just how much value may be forgone by using desirable urban real estate as car storage," writes Moore. A recent report assigns financial value to the choice between parking or other uses of urban space.
Researchers for an association of local business improvement areas estimated that customers spent $181-million in the repurposed parking spaces in the summer of 2021. The same spaces would have generated $3.7-million in parking revenue, according to the local parking authority, and even that modest figure assumed prepandemic levels of demand.
Moore's conclusion, with more examples and and appeals to authority, included in the source article (which requires an email to read for free): people are slowly waking up to the idea that parking doesn't play the same role in cities as it did in the 1950s.
FULL STORY: New spin on parking spaces during pandemic reaps benefits
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
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.
California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
The state’s energy grid was entirely powered by clean energy for some portion of the day on 37 out of the last 45 days.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
Two federal agencies launched a new, easy-to-use, color-coded heat warning system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
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.