Zoning codes that mandate a certain number of parking spaces for businesses that serve on-site alcoholic beverages are inconsistent with law enforcement's campaign against drunk driving, says Eric de Place.
The parking-to-floor area ratio in Vancouver, BC, is 1-to-60; Seattle and Portland, 1-to-250; and Boise, Ida., 1-to-300. With this ratio, "bars in Portland and Seattle are legally obligated to provide almost as much on-site parking as they set aside for customers," de Place points out.
He continues, "There's no better measure of our perverse relationship with cars than the fact that nearly every city and town in North America has laws requiring drinking establishments to provide parking, and yet roadside memorials to victims of drunk driving are mostly illegal."
De Place's solution? Make the existing requirement zero. "It's that easy," he says.
FULL STORY: Law and Order and Parking Lots
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California Law Bars Parking Mandates Near Transit
Local governments are prohibited from requiring parking spaces at new developments where transit is readily available.
How Park(ing) Day Leads to Permanent Change
Small-scale interventions can lead the way to major parking reforms.
How Would Project 2025 Affect America’s Transportation System?
Long story short, it would — and not in a good way.
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Cincinnati Seeks to Repurpose Its Unused Subway Tunnel
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New Jersey Agrivoltaic Project Combines Solar Energy With Farming
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Rooftop Solar on Mexico City Market to Power 300 Transit Buses
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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.
Placer County
Mayors' Institute on City Design
City of Sunnyvale
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP)
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
City of Portland, ME
Baton Rouge Area Foundation