This story was originally published in Grist, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk Collaboration. Originally, parking lots were built to reduce traffic chaos. Climate change has changed that dynamic. Since the 1920s, a little-known parking minimum policy has shaped many aspects of American life. In major
This article, which was first published by Grist, is being reprinted these as a part of the Climate Desk partnership.
Parking lots were initially developed to reduce traffic congestion. But that dynamic has been reversed by climate change.
Parking minimums, a little-known policy, has influenced many aspects of National life since the 1920s. This required any type of structure—apartments, banks, or shopping centers—to reserve a certain number of parking spaces to accommodate any potential visitors in big cities.
However, in the US, transportation accounts for about one-third of all carbon emissions, and cars account for a sizeable portion of those emissions. Reducing reliance on fossil fuels will also require reevaluating how transportation and open space should appear, particularly in cities, as the nation works to aggressively reduce carbon emissions.
The city of Austin, Texas, became the most recent community to do away with parking minimums earlier this month and is now the biggest city in the US. According to Zohaib Qadri, the Austin city council member who proposed the measure,” If we want half of all trips to be in something other than a car, then we ca n’t, in my opinion, mandate that every home or business have at least one parking space for each resident or customer.”
” The high cost of everything, not only the housing crisis and climate change, is to blame. It’s traffic congestion, native air pollution, etc.”
According to Qadri, Austin’s initiative was greatly aided by reducing its reliance on automobiles. He hopes that the initiative will also result in a more lasting city.
” Climate change is around,” Qadri declared. And continuing to adhere to these climate-unfriendly and untenable transportation practices from the 20th century will just make matters worse.
According to Donald Shoup, an engineer and professor of urban planning at UCLA, the repeal of this ostensibly harmless law may enable cities to construct thicker housing, expand public transportation options, and cut their carbon emissions.
Shoup remarked,” It’s not just the housing crisis and climate change, but also traffic congestion, native air pollution, and the high cost of everything—aside from parking.”
Air pollution and climate change are especially expensive effects, with both estimated to cost the US billions of dollars annually. In contrast, parking spots can cost anywhere between tens of thousands of dollars to build, with one estimate putting the cost at almost$ 30,000 per spot.
” Removing parking restrictions is a good idea, even if climate change were not an issue. However, he added that it will benefit the entire planet in addition to being a great idea directly.
Momentum is expanding as states like California, Anchorage, Richmond, and Raleigh have all recently eliminated their parking requirements.
Paved parking lots contribute to the urban heat island effect, where cities frequently experience higher temperatures than their remote counterparts, in addition to taking up valuable space. Heat is frequently absorbed and re-emitted by the asphalt and material used to build parking lots at rates higher than those of the surrounding environment. This occurred during a record-breakingly warm summer, which means that parking lots not only contribute to the larger issue of climate change but even short-term worsen it.
Cities simply need to actively participate in managing what they own, which is the street and the curb.
Unlocking parking minimums does not imply that all parking will disappear immediately; instead, it means that any off-street parking constructed will never be required to meet any minimum standard. According to Tony Jordan, president of the Parking Reform Network, these standards were no merely out-of-date but frequently prevented meaningful discussions about how to increase housing density—a pressing need for the majority of US regions.
Jordan remarked,” Imagine if all the parking were also constructed, but we only had an additional 10 apartments in each building in every city for the past 50 years.” ” We’d have an abundance of housing, like, a lot of newly constructed apartments that we essentially stopped.”
Even though it was the result of relying on decades-old policy to avoid active decision-making about open space, Jordan claimed that every time parking took precedence over another land uses, that was a deliberate choice. The street and the curb are all that cities need to actively manage.
Removing parking minimums is a significant step toward creating more climate-friendly cities, though the most significant effects of doing so wo n’t likely be felt right away. Cities will need time to build up their housing stock or increase investment in low-carbon transit options.
Jordan remarked,” Austin is the exact city it was two weeks ago.” It will take some time for that city’s parking mandate reforms to actually have an impact. Thus, it merely removes a hindrance and obstruction to another reforms.
The Economic Hardship Reporting Project provided support for this article. This article, which was first published by Grist, is being reprinted these as a part of the Climate Desk partnership. Parking lots were initially built to prevent traffic congestion. But that dynamic has been turned on its head by climate change. A significant aspect of British life has been shaped by a little-known policy known as parking minimums since the 1920s. big
This story was originally published in Grist, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk Collaboration. Originally, parking lots were built to reduce traffic chaos. Climate change has changed that dynamic. Since the 1920s, a little-known parking minimum policy has shaped many aspects of American life. In major
Jason Hawkes/Getty/Grist. This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.. In the beginning, parking lots were created to curb chaos on the road. But climate change has turned that dynamic on its head.. Since the 1920s a little-known policy called parking minimums has shaped a large facet of American life. In major cities, this meant that any type of building—apartments, banks, or shopping malls—needed to reserve a certain amount of parking spaces to accommodate anyone who might visit.. But transportation makes up almost one-third of carbon emissions in the US and cars represent a significant portion of those emissions. As the country attempts to aggressively cut carbon emissions, reducing dependence on fossil fuels will also mean rethinking what transportation and public space look like, especially in cities.. Earlier this month, the city of Austin, Texas, became the latest community to eliminate parking minimums and is now the largest city in the US to do so. “If we want half of all trips to be in something other than a car, then we can’t, as a city, in my opinion, mandate that every home or business have at least one parking space for each resident or customer,” said Zohaib Qadri, the Austin city council member who introduced the measure.. “It isn’t just the housing crisis and climate change, it’s traffic congestion, it’s local air pollution, it’s the high price of everything.”. Reducing dependency on cars was a huge push for the initiative in Austin, said Qadri, who hopes the measure also will lead to a more sustainable city.. “Climate change is here,” said Qadri. “And we’re only going to make it worse by clinging to these very climate unfriendly and unsustainable transportation habits of the 20th century.”. The elimination of this seemingly innocuous law could pave the way for cities to build denser housing, increase public transit options, and reduce their carbon emissions, according to Donald Shoup, an engineer and professor of urban planning at UCLA.. “It isn’t just the housing crisis and climate change, it’s traffic congestion, it’s local air pollution, it’s the high price of everything—except parking,” said Shoup.. Climate change and air pollution are particularly costly outcomes, with both estimated to cost the US billions of dollars every year. Parking spots, meanwhile, can run in the tens of thousands of dollars to construct, with one estimate putting that figure at almost $30,000 per spot.. “Even if climate change were not an issue, removing parking requirements is a good idea. But in addition to being a good idea locally, it will help the entire planet,” he said.. Momentum is building with cities like Anchorage, Richmond, and Raleigh, and states like California all eliminating their parking minimums within the last few years.. Paved parking lots not only take up valuable space, but also contribute to the urban heat island effect, where cities often experience higher temperatures than their rural counterparts. The asphalt and concrete used to construct parking lots often absorb and re-emit heat at higher rates than the natural environment. This happened amidst a record-breakingly hot summer which means that not only are parking lots contributing to the larger problem of climate change, but they also make the outcome worse in the short-term as well.. “The cities just need to take an active role in managing what they own—the street and the curb.”. An important caveat is that undoing parking minimums does not mean that all parking will vanish overnight, but rather that any off-street parking built will not need to adhere to any minimum standard. These standards were not only outdated but often prevented meaningful conversation about how to increase housing density—an urgent need for most parts of the US, according to Tony Jordan, president of the Parking Reform Network.. “Imagine if all the parking was still built, but we just had another 10 apartments in every building in every city for the last 50 years,” said Jordan. “We’d have a housing abundance, like, that’s a lot of apartments that would have just been built that we basically prevented.”. Every time parking took precedence over other land uses, that was a deliberate choice, even when it was the result of relying on decades-old policy to avoid active decision making about public space according to Jordan. “The cities just need to take an active role in managing what they own—the street and the curb.”. The most important effects of undoing parking minimums probably won’t be seen right away, it will take time for cities to build up their housing stock, or to increase investment in low-carbon transit options but repealing parking minimums represents an important step in building more climate-friendly cities.. “Austin is the same city that it was two weeks ago,” said Jordan. “It’s gonna take quite a while for that city to really reap the benefits of their parking mandate reforms. And so it just removes a roadblock and a barrier to other reforms.”. This story was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
