It’s Black Friday—and at Strong Towns, that means it’s time to hang with family, nap off yesterday’s food coma, and reflect on how dumb mandatory parking minimums are. Thousands of our readers across America are out there right now happily snapping photos of half-empty lots outside their local stores as part of our annual #BlackFridayParking campaign, reflecting on the insanity of the fact that our cities actually require many of their merchants to build so many parking spots that their customers can’t even fill on the biggest shopping day of the year. (You can totally join them, by the way.)
But not everyone thinks their town has a too-much-parking problem. And if you want to go to ground zero for people who think the Strong Towns call to end parking minimums simply doesn’t apply to their community, look no further than Southern California.
In a recent podcast from KCRW’s Greater LA, host Steve Chiotakis dug into Los Angeles’ peculiar relationship with its parking landscape. LA, after all, is a city that devotes a whopping 27 square miles of its land to the storage of private vehicles, (yes, really,) but whose residents still always seem to be endlessly circling for a spot. And while some Los Angelenos Chiotakis talks to think their city will simply never kick their autodependency habit, others see hope for getting people out of their cars and onto modes of transportation that don’t require that we pave over acres upon acres of our most valuable downtown land.
So what’s the Strong Towns take? Is Southern California beyond repair, or is it time for a transformative overhaul of the City of Sunshine?
In this episode of Upzoned, Chuck and Kea tackle that tough question—and offer a preview of what you can expect at their lived podcast recording at December 4th’s Southern California regional gathering. And their answers might surprise you—especially if you think #EndParkingMinimums means #BanTheCars.
Behind the Scenes at the Strong Towns National Gathering
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.?
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