Free street parking is not exactly free, and most Americans are paying a lot for it without knowing. This week we look at the real cost of street parking, and some solutions from urban Japan.
Very astute observations and hardheaded stats combine very effectively here. I like how you always mix the personal and the public, because of course they are intimately connected.
Thanks for the article, as always, it's great! Looking at your drawings, I couldn’t help but wish to live in a town like this.
Oh yeah, I wish street parking was removed in my area. I live in a suburb where there is virtually no public transportation other than the occasional bus.
Because of this, in my area, many people own cars and almost all public spaces are filled with cars.
In my opinion, it is very important to develop public transport in such areas. I can see that a light tram would fit perfectly into the landscape of my suburb, taking people to work in the morning and bringing them home in the evening. And for moving around the suburb, a bicycle would be ideal, so I would like to see more bike paths and bike parking near shops and restaurants.
Have you ever watched Not Just Bikes on YouTube? He does a ton of videos on this topic, often comparing Amsterdam with Canada, breaking down the justifications for our car heavy city design and showing how life is more satisfying.
I would love to live in a less car dependant place, and sometimes fantasize about turning the street in front of my house into an open grass space for kids to run around. I used to live in a townhouse where we essentially had that, and all the neighbors kids could run around and ride bikes without worrying about cars and their parents could easily supervise them from their houses.
But right now the street is mainly parking for a nearby hospital. If we had efficient bus transportation and protected bike lanes, it'd be a lot easier on hospital employees. They could get off right outside the hospital instead of having to take a cold hike during the winter.
If we didn't have to subsidize parking, we could seriously invest in a great bus transit system and multi-user path system. It would certainly help low income people and people with disabilities who can't drive.
Never heard of Not Just Bikes, but I'll check it out. Sounds like a deep rabbit hole :-D
I recall some townhouse developments in the U.S. with those parks in the middle and now that you mention it, they do feel somewhat similar to the 'suburban' Osaka model! Usually missing the commerce element, but they do give parents that nice visual on the kids playing (and close enough to yell out the window when dinner is ready, haha).
A beautifully written piece Sir Patrick. Which comes first: The local shops or the absence of street parking? It seems like over here in the U.S., when corner markets try and carry fresh produce and eggs, it ends up rotting before being bought..so the market goes back to selling processed foods. It's hard to break the cycle when the neighborhood was built after cars were invented.
Thanks Rachel sensei! Your comment somehow brought up a memory for me, from junior high school science class. Not sure why, but I'm going to tell you about it. I remember our teacher Mrs. Schomberg had us do a group assignment that must have lasted a few days, in which each group designed a neighborhood. On big pieces of butcher paper, we laid out the streets, the foliage, where the houses and shops would be, and we made arguments about why we did what we did. During that whole process, she gave us insights as to what worked and why. Actually I am still not sure what it had to do with 7th grade science curriculum, and we were still drawing streets with parking lots at that time, but the exercise forever changed my view of the city, and generated a deep interest in how things came together and why.
Maybe good teachers are the best answer to those questions you pose?
Also, outside of formal education, is the flow of our culture and how it instills lessons in us as we go about our lives. In my undergrad years, I lived in what was a convenient and walkable downtown San Jose, with a local supermarket. But I ate a whole lot of top ramen. Definitely I wasn't buying local produce, even though it was there. It was only as I learned how to cook (through the people around me in that diverse urban atmosphere), that I slowly started going to the farmers market every week and buying fresh produce. I think the atmosphere of a walkable dense neighborhood, having all those new relationships, seeing people on the street talking excitedly about vegetables(!?what!?), being invited over for experimental dinners, and being in the mode of learning and soaking things up, was helpful. Also that there were young people there who made 'home cooking' and 'farmers markets' and 'dinner parties' something interesting and cool. It's not the only thing. It can't be relied upon independent of formal education about these things, but if those two modes of learning go together in that kind of atmopshere? Bam. I think that is some kind of magic sauce, no?
Though I admit, I still eat 'shin ramen' once in a while, with an egg and slice of cheese on top. I am in Korea, afterall :-D
That assignment from Mrs.Schomberg definitely seems to have influenced you! How amazing…a seed planted in your fertile, creative mind has grown into something beautiful that is planting more seeds!
Very astute observations and hardheaded stats combine very effectively here. I like how you always mix the personal and the public, because of course they are intimately connected.
Thanks for that, Greg!
Thanks for the article, as always, it's great! Looking at your drawings, I couldn’t help but wish to live in a town like this.
Oh yeah, I wish street parking was removed in my area. I live in a suburb where there is virtually no public transportation other than the occasional bus.
Because of this, in my area, many people own cars and almost all public spaces are filled with cars.
In my opinion, it is very important to develop public transport in such areas. I can see that a light tram would fit perfectly into the landscape of my suburb, taking people to work in the morning and bringing them home in the evening. And for moving around the suburb, a bicycle would be ideal, so I would like to see more bike paths and bike parking near shops and restaurants.
Thanks, Eugene! I dig these observations, and hope the bicycle paths and light tram come some day soon...
Have you ever watched Not Just Bikes on YouTube? He does a ton of videos on this topic, often comparing Amsterdam with Canada, breaking down the justifications for our car heavy city design and showing how life is more satisfying.
I would love to live in a less car dependant place, and sometimes fantasize about turning the street in front of my house into an open grass space for kids to run around. I used to live in a townhouse where we essentially had that, and all the neighbors kids could run around and ride bikes without worrying about cars and their parents could easily supervise them from their houses.
But right now the street is mainly parking for a nearby hospital. If we had efficient bus transportation and protected bike lanes, it'd be a lot easier on hospital employees. They could get off right outside the hospital instead of having to take a cold hike during the winter.
If we didn't have to subsidize parking, we could seriously invest in a great bus transit system and multi-user path system. It would certainly help low income people and people with disabilities who can't drive.
Never heard of Not Just Bikes, but I'll check it out. Sounds like a deep rabbit hole :-D
I recall some townhouse developments in the U.S. with those parks in the middle and now that you mention it, they do feel somewhat similar to the 'suburban' Osaka model! Usually missing the commerce element, but they do give parents that nice visual on the kids playing (and close enough to yell out the window when dinner is ready, haha).
A deep rabbit hole, but a great rabbit hole. :)
A beautifully written piece Sir Patrick. Which comes first: The local shops or the absence of street parking? It seems like over here in the U.S., when corner markets try and carry fresh produce and eggs, it ends up rotting before being bought..so the market goes back to selling processed foods. It's hard to break the cycle when the neighborhood was built after cars were invented.
Thanks Rachel sensei! Your comment somehow brought up a memory for me, from junior high school science class. Not sure why, but I'm going to tell you about it. I remember our teacher Mrs. Schomberg had us do a group assignment that must have lasted a few days, in which each group designed a neighborhood. On big pieces of butcher paper, we laid out the streets, the foliage, where the houses and shops would be, and we made arguments about why we did what we did. During that whole process, she gave us insights as to what worked and why. Actually I am still not sure what it had to do with 7th grade science curriculum, and we were still drawing streets with parking lots at that time, but the exercise forever changed my view of the city, and generated a deep interest in how things came together and why.
Maybe good teachers are the best answer to those questions you pose?
Also, outside of formal education, is the flow of our culture and how it instills lessons in us as we go about our lives. In my undergrad years, I lived in what was a convenient and walkable downtown San Jose, with a local supermarket. But I ate a whole lot of top ramen. Definitely I wasn't buying local produce, even though it was there. It was only as I learned how to cook (through the people around me in that diverse urban atmosphere), that I slowly started going to the farmers market every week and buying fresh produce. I think the atmosphere of a walkable dense neighborhood, having all those new relationships, seeing people on the street talking excitedly about vegetables(!?what!?), being invited over for experimental dinners, and being in the mode of learning and soaking things up, was helpful. Also that there were young people there who made 'home cooking' and 'farmers markets' and 'dinner parties' something interesting and cool. It's not the only thing. It can't be relied upon independent of formal education about these things, but if those two modes of learning go together in that kind of atmopshere? Bam. I think that is some kind of magic sauce, no?
Though I admit, I still eat 'shin ramen' once in a while, with an egg and slice of cheese on top. I am in Korea, afterall :-D
That assignment from Mrs.Schomberg definitely seems to have influenced you! How amazing…a seed planted in your fertile, creative mind has grown into something beautiful that is planting more seeds!