These U.S. Cities Have More Parking Lots Than Housing - They paved paradise again and again and again.
by Frank Jacobs, Big Think May 17, 2024
"...On average, about one-fifth of all land in city centers is dedicated to parking. But what’s the actual harm being done by all that parking space? For one, city centers that are more “parkable” become less walkable. In other words, fewer things are casually accessible.
...Americans’ attitude toward driving is changing. The share of high school seniors with a driving license has dropped from 85.3% in 1996 to 71.5% in 2015. The rise of shared, multi-modal, and (soon, they keep promising us) autonomous mobility will further reduce the need for driver’s licenses, individual cars, and massive parking facilities in city centers.
Perhaps it’s time for American cities to become denser, more lived-in, more walkable—and less “parkable.”
“I’m wondering if something subliminal has happened after reading Bicycling Monterey. I’ve been riding the Rock Island Greenway Trail for the last week and a half. Just a wonderful and beautiful ride! It’s not Monterey, California, but a real gem for Peoria, Illinois.”—Richard Coers
Thousand Oaks Transit: 🚲🚍Ventura County transit operators are celebrating Bike to Work Day by offering free rides to anyone boarding with a bike on May 17! Seamlessly connect your bike route by riding any bus within Ventura County for free. http://goventura.org/free
I don't want to undermine the importance of having public transit be safe, but media needs to stop covering "violence on the Metro" as if pubtrans is more deadly than car travel.
Sure, you're not the one driving the Metro so you don't feel as in control. But I suspect the numbers would show a lot more violence per day in car travel than pubtrans.
Let's work for violence prevention on pubtrans, but also stop stoking middle class fears of pubtrans. #Transportation#PublicTransit
Big mega transportation projects primarily benefiting people who drive just roll along and get most of the money but the projects for non-drivers are often crumbs we’re expected to cheer for and even bigger projects are easily cut when money is tight. Thanks Kimberly for this framing.
“It’s absurd for ODOT to claim that their proposed $1.9 billion 10-lane highway is in compliance with the city’s existing plans for #climateAction, sustainable #transportation investment or neighborhood development. We filed this lawsuit because state law requires ODOT to follow the city’s #cleanAir and climate goals. ODOT shouldn’t be allowed to advance a project that brazenly violates the city’s adopted plans.” -- #NoMoreFreeways#ODOTGTFOpdx#Portland
"as part of a project for PSU’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning program. Students... are working with local nonprofit @bikeloudpdx to investigate the potential of adding a major bikeway to Sandy when it gets repaved by the #Portland Bureau of #Transportation in 2026."
"The way to fight #crime is not with stops based on hunches and pretext, but by investing proactively in communities and with #policing targeted at people for whom there is suspicion of serious criminal conduct.
On the other hand, there is a real #trafficSafety problem in this country… #transportation officials should focus their efforts... better lighting… #protectedBikeLanes & pedestrian crossings; self-ticketing cars with speed limiters, … [#transit]" 🚎 🚲
Monday, PSU students will be holding a drop-in open house to gather feedback on people's preferences between different alternatives for bike, pedestrian, and placemaking improvements along #SandyBlvd between 14th and 28th #pdxBikes#Portland#transportation
I'm having a hard time believing, not that a #transportation agency would come up with a plan that was to sweep the broken glass and gravel off of the sidewalks and leave it in the bike lanes for a few days before sweeping it up, just that it wasn't done with intentional malice or disdain toward people on bikes. (months after it snowed and they graveled everything while plowing the snow onto the sidewalks) #BarburBlvd#pdxBikes#Portland#BikeTooter#ClimateDenial#CarSupremacy#ODOTGTFOpdx
I never really liked driving and would use a bus or bike as often as was not terribly worse but until 2018 it was an option to drive. My partner often can still drive me places but I too often get so angry when I look up how to get some place and realize I can spend 2-3 times as long to get there or ask my partner or just not go.
Anyway get Anna’s book! Be ready to write your elected officials often after. :)
"When Driving is Not an Option with Anna Zivarts."
One-third of people in the US can’t drive. Those tens of millions of people are often invisible to planners and elected officials, and that’s why Anna Letitia Zivarts, a low-vision nondriver and activist has written a new book, "When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency." We talked with Anna about building a system that works for everyone.