Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World

    I have long been a proponent of pedestrian accessibility. Walking is my preferred mode of transit, actually. Ironic given my love of cars, but it isn't necessarily as contradictory as it seems at a first glance. Cars definitely have their uses. But most of those uses can be solved by investing in walk-able/bike-able cities and improving the public transit systems. It wouldn't be a particularly easy, or cheap, process though. Our current culture is simply ingrained into a autocentric mindset. 

    That's where today's book comes into play. Paved Paradise, by Henry Grabar, describes the current, unfortunate state of America's parking situation and how we got here. Hint: this evolution started at about the same time that a certain American entrepreneur decided that mass-production of affordable vehicles will liberate the masses. Speeding through the 20th century, we see the introduction of parking minimums decimating neighborhoods, worsening start up costs for small businesses, and working into a vicious cycle of car-dependent design increasing car usage, further increasing car-dependent design.

    In short - mandatory minimums set required numbers of parking spaces, making parking lots as big as stores. Furthermore, policies like free street parking further encourage car ownership. Now combine this with housing shortages and you have a double whammy. When a duplex or multi-family home needs a parking area that disproportionately out paces the number of people housed, its no wonder that they become ever harder and more expensive to build. 

    Fortunately, Paved Paradise isn't just a critique of the current situation. It offers solutions based on real-life scenarios, including case studies which are working. There is a way out of this situation. Will we take it though?

    It's a well written book that is more relevant than ever. It's a new book, released in May 2023, so there it includes the effects of the pandemic - closed streets for biking and walking, outdoor dining, etc. I genuinely believe that there is hope for us to keep this trend of opening up cities. But, crucially, in America, the best thing we can do is elect candidates that support our views. I don't want to get political, but it is every US citizen's right, nay duty, to participate in government. Educate your self. Make the choices that improve life for us all, not just keep up property values.