East Lansing wants to ditch some of its surface parking to encourage economic activity and walkability.
East Lansing, Michigan is wrapping up a new master plan for parking in the city in the hopes of fostering walkability and economic activity in the city. Josh Kaplow reports on the plan after the city concluded the public engagement process. A draft plan is expected this month.
“East Lansing is partnering with Walker Consultants, a planning and design firm, to assess the current parking climate and how it is impacted by various factors including seasons, times of the day and times of the week,” writes Kaplow. “The 2018 edition of East Lansing’s master plan noted that surface parking lots consume valuable real estate and decrease a city’s ‘walkability’ and ‘urban atmosphere’ while multi-level parking structures, especially those ‘fronted by first floor real estate,’ cater to a more centralized downtown.”
The new master plan is expected to replace surface parking capacity with parking structures, though the new plan is also expected to account for an increased trend toward public transportation and biking, as well,” according to Laplow.
FULL STORY: East Lansing plans parking to increase downtown walkability, urban atmosphere
L.A. Reimagines Parking for New Uses
In famously car-centric Los Angeles, developers and city officials are changing the way they view parking space, opting instead to allocate the space to more effective uses.
Chicago Planning Department Rejects 'Overparked' Six Corners Proposal
In a decision that is still impossible in most of the country, Chicago's Department of Planning and Development is requiring housing and reduced surface parking to approve a retail project.
Charlotte's North Tryon Vision Plan Focuses on People, Not Cars
Charlotte's North Tryon Vision Plan is "among the more ambitious long-term urban planning projects in American cities," this article. Released in 2015, the plan's work is not done.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association