City officials want to encourage the redevelopment of underused surface parking lots.
City officials in Des Moines, Iowa want to put the city’s underutilized downtown parking lots to better uses to spur economic development and bring in a more diverse group of businesses, according to an Axios article by Linh Ta.
As the article notes, “26% of downtown Des Moines' commercial business district is dedicated to surface parking lots, according to Parking Reform Network.”
In the early 2000s, the city made a similar move, purchasing former car dealerships and empty lots in its East Village. “The bottom line: Those lots have since turned into venues like the AC Hotel, Zombie Burger, Scenic Route Bakery, RAYGUN and Clyde's Fine Diner — making East Village one of the most visited and walkable areas in Des Moines.”
FULL STORY: Reimagining downtown Des Moines' parking lots
Opinion: Cities Must Take Action on Blighted Downtown Parking Lots
Surface parking lots take up as much as a third of downtown land in some cities, dragging down tax revenue and redevelopment prospects.
New Website Calls Out Philadelphia's 'Parking Wastelands'
It's unclear who exactly is behind the Philly Parking Wasteland website, but it is clear that the site exists to excoriate the mismanagement of land for the purposes of parking around the city of Philadelphia.
Jersey City could build 700 homes on city-owned parking lots
If approved, a redevelopment proposal would build hundreds of new homes on a pair of city parking lots.
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