Housing First; Cars Last
Underutilized parking lots are a costly waste. By managing parking more efficiently, cities can free up land to house people rather than cars.
Todd Litman | January 7, 2021, 6am PST Share
people, but virtually all jurisdictions do mandate an abundant and costly supply of housing for
motor vehicles. Our zoning codes require that most buildings include numerous parking spaces that are generally unpriced, which is a huge and unfair subsidy for automobile use. This increases housing costs, encourages driving, and forces car-free households to pay for expensive parking facilities they don t need.
The costs are huge. Recent studies have counted the number of parking spaces that exist in various areas. They indicate that there are typically 3-6 off-street parking spaces per motor vehicle, with lower rates in central cities and higher rates in sprawled areas. Considering land, construction and operating expenses, a typical surface parking space has an ann
Lacey | Planetizen - Urban Planning News, Jobs, and Education planetizen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from planetizen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This article originally appeared on Todd Litman’s blog at Planetizen, and was reprinted with permission of the author. What do transportation system users consider to be the most important problem? Here’s a hint: it’s not traffic congestion. The 2009 National Household Travel Survey asked respondents to rate the importance of six transport problems: traffic […]
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All I want for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa is affordable housing in walkable neighbourhood timescolonist.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timescolonist.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Automobile Dependency: An Unequal Burden
Automobile-dependent planning has changed automobiles from a luxury into a necessity. Excessive vehicle costs leave many households without money to purchase essential food, shelter and healthcare. They need more affordable transportation options.
Todd Litman | December 15, 2020, 5am PST Share
Vic Hinterlang
Entertainer Will Rogers once noted that, The United States is the only country ever to go to the poorhouse in an automobile. This has become tragically true for many low- and moderate-income families.
For example, thousands of automobiles regularly line up to receive food bank packages, as illustrated in the photo above.
These are mostly nice SUVs, light trucks and vans, the types of vehicles owned by responsible families living in automobile-dependent communities. Automobile food bank lines are, to a large degree, a self-fulfilling prophesy: Because residents must drive everywhere, they have high transportation costs, leav