Picture a suburban house in anytown, America. Maybe you’re imagining a white picket fence, or a chintzy front yard rock garden; a half acre of freshly mown grass, or an explosion of diligently landscaped hydrangeas; a towering Tudor, or a quaint colonial. But we bet most of your mental images have one feature in common: an attached garage with that iconic roll-top door.
There’s nothing more American than the household garage—for better or worse. For some, the garage is a troubling symptom of decades of auto-centric city planning. We’ve put our homes miles from the basic necessities of life and all, requiring that every household own a private vehicle, or two, or three (and a place to store them all). For others, the household garage is a good thing: after all, shouldn’t car owners be paying the actual costs of housing their coupes and sedans, rather than parking on the street and effectively asking non-car owners to subsidize them?
But to even more of us, a garage is so much more than the place you stash your whip or a symbol of city decline. It’s the place you started your first rock band; your private weight-lifting studio; your ersatz office in the early days of your tech startup. And those emotional associations with the humble garage might impact our conversation on how to make our cities stronger more than we realize.
Inspired by a recent New Yorker article that explored the cultural significance of private car storage, How the Garage Became America’s Favorite Room, Strong Towns staffers Kea and Chuck investigated the Strong Towns perspective on this accidental American institution in the latest episode of Upzoned. Why do Americans love their garages so much? Would suburban metal bands and low-budget businesses suddenly disappear if the garage fell out of favor among homebuilders? How could our places be financially stronger if we devoted less space to these structures—or, better yet, let any citizen retrofit their garage into an apartment, or a storefront, or anything they pleased? And most importantly: what’s in Chuck Marohn’s garage right now?
Then in the Downzone, Chuck and Kea talk about the audio they’re listening to while they walk their respective dogs. Chuck has been devouring the most recent episode of Dan Carlin’s excellent Hardcore History podcast series, which explores the roots of the Asia-Pacific region from feudal times up until Pearl Harbor. And Kea just finished a listen to the audiobook edition of Heartland by Sarah Smarsh, which gives a personal take on what it looks like to grow up poor in the middle of America (and which she thinks Strong Towns fans would love).
Live From the National Gathering
Parking Regulations Threaten to Demolish Coffee Shop
An Abandoned Downtown Equals a Pot of Gold?
One Reason American Architecture Is Considered Boring: Stairs
Cowboy Hotels for Housing Shortages
Homelessness in Rural America
High-Income Earners Are Renting Instead of Buying Homes
When a Building Is Demolished, What Should Happen to the Materials?
The 15 Minute City - A Good Life or an Infringement on Freedoms?
Whose Responsibility Is It To Ensure That Buildings Interact With the Public Realm in a Delightful Way?
We’re Getting Worse at Construction Despite Technology Advances
Portland’s Cully Neighborhood To Use “The One Ring” for Good
The Governor of Missouri Wants to Spend $859 Million on Highway Expansion
The U.S. Is Running Out of Skilled Labor. Is It Gen-Z’s Fault?
People Move to Places with Zoning Laws, Ergo Zoning Is Good?
Thanks for a Great Year
Homeowners Struggling to Get Insurance in Wildfire-Prone Colorado
These 3 Cities Are Eliminating Parking Minimums. Are They Going About It the Right Way?
Why Is It So Expensive To Build Public Transit in the U.S.?
This Man Overcame Homelessness by Building His Own Tiny Home…on Hollywood Boulevard!
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Social Dallas Podcast
Change Church Podcast
Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon
Digital Islamic Reminder
Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications