Massively overthought.
People believe there’s never enough parking because people who drive are, by definition, narcissists who believe their convenience is far more important than anyone else’s safety, or a habitable planet to live on. So naturally the only parking that matters is the parking that’s steps from the front door of their destination, and of that space is occupied or doesn’t exist, then there’s “no parking to be found anywhere”.
Albuquerque was one of the saddest downtowns I’ve ever been to. We went for a couple of nights on a long trip just to see NM, stayed downtown. The entire city was empty, massive swaths of empty parking lots with the occasional few shops in between. That city honestly has a very unique culture, green chiles in everything, and has so much potential, but the city is just rotting from car culture.
It just kills me how parking laws and car-minded people think about downtowns. “There is too much traffic, so we must add parking”, which was a very naive idea because they ended up bulldozing all of the reasons there was traffic in the first place. Now tax revenue from downtown cores is minimal, downtowns deteriate, but hey you can go park there whenever you want. Just don’t expect anything to do once you are there.
One difficulty in switching away from entrenched car culture is that businesses are too few and too far apart. My e-bike can easily carry a week’s worth of groceries. If I didn’t have one, I’d either need to be lucky enough to live near the supermarket, or pay for a ride (cargo carts and such are not allowed on the bus). And, refilling my 3 and 5 gallon water bottles at a water station or someone needing a laundromat? Same problems. Gotta pay for a ride or pay for delivery, pay pay pay. In a car-centric city, you’re either paying to have a car or paying to not have a car. Whereas walkable cities have smaller stores that are close by.
(cargo carts and such are not allowed on the bus)
Holy mother of anti-poor policies
Instead people (quite understandably) walk the carts home and then ditch them. So they have companies that drive around collecting shopping carts to return to stores.
Ah sorry, I thought we were referring to personal carts, like a shopping trolley.
Obviously you can’t take the store trolley on the bus, that would be insane
Yeah you understood correctly. Personal carts. Only folded up carts allowed on the bus. I can see I invited confusion, my bad. I was blaming grocery carts being taken from stores perhaps as a result of that bus policy.
I just realized I skipped the thought that led to my monologue: even if there are open parking spots, they aren’t very useful if they’re not close by, because people don’t want to walk.
That was my takeaway. In downtown Pensacola the historicity of it all has construction mostly on lockdown. The area has blossomed since I moved here 20-years ago, but parking isn’t just a matter of walking a bit. Everything’s either private, taken, or you can park 10 blocks away on a busy night and still find yourself in a private area.
But I get it. “People won’t walk.” sounds like the issue with most of these areas and projects. We Americans are truly spoiled on this topic. :)
This is all so very logical and agreeable, but the argument always leaves out people like me. I have no desire to live my one life, that I was stupendously lucky to get, packed in like rats with other humans. As an old friend used to say, “I don’t want to look out the window and see my neighbors eating breakfast.” I want to step into the surrounding woods and find running into another human an unusual encounter.
I’m in a lower-middle class hood on the bleeding edge of Milton, the redneck suburb of Pensacola. I like it though! I can walk off into the woods, though they’re privately owned by several different people, gotta watch one’s step. There’s a perfectly clear creek I can skinny dip in. I can tote my kayak 3-miles to the local swamp, which is gorgeous. On the way there, I can stop off at the military base and take the 2-mile hike around their trails and not see a soul.
The Netherlands and Germant have a a similar lifestyle. In small towns, you can live exactly as you mention. And I personally completely agree. I like quiet life too.
The difference is that when you inevitably need medical care, you can take a train to a bigger city with a hospital.
Which argument were you referring to when you said you had been left out?
Nothing wrong with living in a rural area without much public transit where cars are necessary. I grew up in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and it was great. But I don’t remember many parking lots in the small towns. Often parking was the dirt in front of the store. I think the article is more focused on urban areas.
However, my vacation in Japan, and Tokyo in particular, reminds me of something. There I was in the largest city in the world, and certain places certainly were very busy and packed full of people. However, at the same time, there was a feeling of freedom of movement. Cars are supposed to represent freedom and independence, but being able to get places without needing to drive there at least for me felt way more free than being trapped in a car. We were walking everywhere, shopping, riding subways and trains and buses, and most of that was completely new to me (even the buses felt different because they were so much more competently run). Yet, at the same time, getting around felt completely natural and instantly comfortable. The stress of a busy train station doesn’t even come close to the stress of driving in rush hour traffic, and I don’t even live in that big a city. I’m mindful that I was a tourist and I wasn’t trying to get to work on time, but there is a human element and feeling of unity that just doesn’t exist driving in a car. And I never had to care about finding a parking spot.
And this might just be cultural, but even in a packed train completely surrounded by people on all sides, there was somehow a sense of privacy and ability to relax. It’s very hard to explain and it may just be one of those things that a person has to experience to understand.
The available greenery and parks were also enhanced and even in some ways felt more accessible because we would just be walking by and there one was ready to be enjoyed.
Again, not to try to take away from the rural experience, I get it. Just my thoughts that switching a dense urban area from cars to public transit, bicycling and walking can also greatly improve one’s experience.
Admittedly, I didn’t read the article, but what I see in Denver is that there’s plenty available if you’re willing to pay, but people will drive around quite a bit looking for cheap, free or super close options. Good luck if you have a large vehicle too…
The point of the article is that no matter what project your city tries to do, drivers will always feel that there isn’t enough parking in the plan. Worse, if the city wants to build something that would remove parking, drivers will be up in arms constantly fighting against that. The crux is that parking makes cities feel emptier and hollow, which then drives away the very people that businesses depend on, and we start seeing what we’ve seen for a long time in downtown cores. Tons of parking - with nothing to do downtown.
I recommend the article, and this is a great video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUNXFHpUhu8
Thanks very much! I’ll read / watch both of these tonight, I just didn’t have time earlier. It’s a subject near and dear to my heart. I basically take public transportation or walk everywhere and the number of city dwellers who think I’m nuts is deeply upsetting to me.
You have found like minded people then, there are many of us! We have !urbanism@slrpnk.net and !citylife@beehaw.org for more generic conversations on making our cities better, and if you’re a bit more upset at hour our cities are being ruined, there’s also !fuckcars@lemmy.world
That video is what brought me into the fold, realizing how bad it truly was.
I almost joined fuckcars, then I read their rules. Who wants to be part of a community called “Fuck Cars” where one of the main rules is not to say anything mean to/about carholes?
Awesome! I’m already part of !fuckcars, but I’ll check out the other two as well. Thanks!
I don’t usually have a problem finding parking but I also rarely need to be within a car length of the door to where I am going. There are some places where immediate downtown parking is limited but if you can walk a few blocks or take transit, it really isn’t an issue. Of course very little of this applies to the US because ‘if you can’t drive there, you can’t get there’ is real. I’ve been in a hotel and wanting to go to a restaurant across the street but literally have to take an Uber because there isn’t any way to walk there.
I dislike all the long term on street parking here. Some of it I’d rather was just 15 minute parking for when you need to load or unload something. Most of the time I look at the cars and I’m like why are you here. There’s a subway stop and two bus lines here.
Oh I thought the reason was because corporations lobbied your government to make it mandatory for all places everywhere to have an abundance of parking.
Did you read the article? Or are you saying you misunderstood the parking thing in the first place? Anyway, I found the article very enlightening. I’ve seen plenty of examples of what they’re talking about.
guarantee you this isn’t accurate in my city… sometimes there just ain’t enough parking man
