A new study quantifies the amount of space devoted to parking in Los Angeles County—a figure that just begs to be visualized.
A recently released study in the Journal of the American Planning Association did an inventory on parking spaces in Los Angeles County—tracking the proliferation of parking across the county between 1900 and 2010. The big headline of the post: 14 percent of incorporated land in Los Angeles County is committed to parking. A stand-alone website for the study provides an abstract, of sorts, for the study, showing heat maps of parking (residential offstreet, non-residential offstreet, and total) around the county at 20 year intervals beginning with 1950.
Blogger Shane Phillips followed on the study to coalesce the data provided by the study into a nifty infographic that drives the point home a little more clearly. Phillips images all of that parking as one large parking crater—16 miles in diameter and taking up an area spanning East L.A. to Santa Monica. In real life, the area inside that parking crater fits 2.3 million residents, 900,000 homes, and 1 million workers, according to Phillips's calculations.
FULL STORY: Mapped: All 200 Square Miles of Parking in LA County, As One Giant Parking Lot
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For Alan Durning, curb-parking territoriality is the root cause of many of America's urban ills, from housing affordability to economic vitality. He describes the circumstances that've led to the current state of affairs and introduces the way out.
Eugene Ends Parking Minimums
In a move that complies with a state law aimed at reducing transportation emissions, Eugene amended its parking rules to eliminate minimum requirements and set maximum parking lot sizes.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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