Parking space paradox

Brooklyn’s density was 39,438 people per square mile in 2020. Saratoga Springs was 1,015, a multiple of 39. Parking partially explains this.

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The parking space paradox

In “The Spatial Organization of Cities: Deliberate Outcome or Unforeseen Consequence?”, Alain Bertaud reveals that Atlanta is about 25 times the land area of Barcelona, but with about the same number of people.  Barcelona is imminently walkable whereas Atlanta is not.  There are probably a dozen reason why, but one has to be distance.  Things in Atlanta are farther apart than in Barcelona.  Not coincidentally, the area required to store a car (the parking space plus the driveway) is about 25 times the area required for a person to sit.

I recently worked on a comprehensive plan update for a an exurban village. The previous plan prescribed more highways, more big roads, more parking, and more suburban sprawl.  I don’t think it could have been more retrograde. 

I want communities to be more proactive about crafting progressive visions.  Instead of a rote retelling of the subdivision-mall-sprawl story, communities can focus on paths and streets, which would give people of all ages and abilities opportunities to perambulate safely.  Everyone complains about having to drive hither and yon for everything, so let us question the minimum parking requirements that spatially separate. Communities can promote density around transit and neighborhood centers, instead of reflexively accepting large, single family lots.  Our inherited transportation system has had a huge impact on climate change and racial inequities.  It is up to us to alter the trajectory.

Figure 6. The Built-up Area of Atlanta and Barcelona Represented at the Same Scale from “The Spatial Organization of Cities: Deliberate Outcome or Unforeseen Consequence?” by Alain Bertaud, 2004.