How Austin Paved Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot

A post by Carrie Gammell at Car Free Austin argues against the idea that Austin's traffic problems are created by density alone: "While it may appear that our present-day city is more crowded and the traffic less manageable, that feeling of encroachment is most certainly due not to an increase in people but to an increase in cars, an increase in asphalt."

In a key passage, Gammell cites both the prevailing rhetoric about traffic in Austin, as well as the inherent irrationality of such arguments:

It seems that local media outlets constantly bemoan the statistic that 110 people move to Austin on an average day. Tall buildings, skyscrapers, 10-to-50-story buildings full of people are presumably to blame. Meanwhile, the city is still not as dense as it was in 1950, 1960, 1970, or 1980.

In fact, 2015 Austin is only 68% as dense as 1950 Austin.

The post offers a lot more detail about the city's planning and transportation decisions of the late-20th century and a collection of historic aerial photos.

Hat tip to Angie Schmitt at Streetsblog USA for finding and sharing the post.