Three Ways to Activate Church Parking Lots Seven Days a Week

In a piece in Strong Towns, Adeleine Geitner outlines how church parking lots, which often take up valuable space in downtowns and city centers, can be utilized as public spaces during off hours. 

As Geitner explains, it would be difficult for many U.S. churches to get rid of parking altogether. After all, they need it for their congregants, who, in many cases, have no option but to drive there. “If religious institutions will continue to build parking so long as their congregation demands it, and their congregation will continue to demand it in the absence of any drastic change to the residential landscape of the city, the most pressing question is not how can cities require less parking for religious institutions but instead how can this parking serve the community seven days a week?”

Geitner offers three potential solutions: let other organizations or the city use the parking lot for parking on days that the church doesn’t need it; cover the parking lot with grass instead of pavement so it can be used as a multipurpose field; and ‘kid-ify’ the parking lot with outdoor furniture, asphalt art, and other amenities that can transform it into a makeshift playground.

These options are just a start, Geitner adds. “The more minds there are thinking about the strange nature of church parking lots (they do fill up, but only a couple times a week), the more these parking lots have a chance of becoming better-used places.”