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Paved Paradise
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Paved Paradise

How Parking Explains the World

Henry Grabar
Penguin Press, 2023
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9

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Cities continually build more space for parking cars, but they hardly make a dent in the perceived parking shortage. Despite vast parking lots and multilevel garages, people still jockey for limited – but convenient and cheap – curbside spots. Adding more lots and garages feeds urban sprawl, exacerbating traffic tangles as city centers increasingly become accessible only by car. Many city planners conclude that an overemphasis on parking is the main culprit in the decline of American downtowns. Slate staff writer Henry Grabar offers an entertaining history of American parking, and profiles urban planners who offer new solutions to the problem of ubiquitous cars. 

Summary

Finding a good parking spot has become a central quest of modern life.

Anxiety about a perceived shortage of parking spaces, particularly in the United States, has led to violent and sometimes deadly showdowns between drivers over contested spaces. Cities have crafted mostly ineffective responses to parking woes, including complex rules about when and for how long drivers may use a space. Municipalities seek to ease these challenges by requiring new buildings to provide a minimum number of parking spaces according to the size and function of each building.

Making more parking available has worsened traffic congestion, in part because installing parking lots and garages encourages more people to drive. Zoning requirements for a certain number of parking spaces per building can significantly raise the cost of construction, thereby constricting the supply of affordable housing. Some city planners and activists – both in American municipalities and around the world – are seeking to institute more rational parking policies.

​​Cities have contended with perceived parking shortages for nearly as long as automobiles ...

About the Author

Slate staff writer Henry Grabar has contributed to The Atlantic, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. His special reporting interests include housing, transportation, and urban policy.

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