I've been a Strong Towns member since November 2022 when I was inspired by Not Just Bikes to make a difference in my own city at the neighborhood level. It's tangible and rewarding to watch small acts like talking to an alder or speaking at Common Council pile up into wins that help improve my neighborhood. One of the bigger acts I've taken is helping host a Crash Analysis Studio (tomorrow!) for a pedestrian fatality that occurred two blocks away from my apartment. The crash was not reported on by local media and the only physical indicator that it occurred is two sets of flowers that I routinely see replenished. I've learned a lot about street design through the "Safe and Productive Streets" campaign and I knew that Strong Towns hosts a monthly session to examine and suggest improvements to streets and intersections that are inherently dangerous through design, across the United States. The purpose is simple: no one should be the second person to die on a dangerous street. I got in touch with the coordinators and made the case for Raymond and Prairie Road. There was no excessive speeding. There wasn't an inebriated driver. A pedestrian attempted to cross a street where the driver's instinct is to look left for cars rather than look right for people. On a red light, the driver hit the pedestrian while turning right. It's tragic, but it's fixable and we can do it with just a couple tweaks to the street. I measured the streets, took videos and pictures, and conducted a two hour speed study showing 97% of drivers going above the 30 mph speed limit and one driver going 73 mph. There are 3 schools and a library within .5 miles of this intersection; we are waiting for more tragic stories if we continue with the status quo. If you'd like to learn more about safe and productive street design, please join us on Friday at 11am central as we discuss inattentional blindness and what we can do about it. There will also be a recording (and you can find other Crash Analysis Studio sessions) at https://lnkd.in/gHBSJpyW. If you have ever felt that there's a street that's too dangerous in your neighborhood, reach out and I can walk you through the steps I took to try and make my street safe for everyone.
Josh Olson’s Post
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President & CEO, Center for Planning Excellence: Connecting people to a healthy environment across the Louisiana Gulf Coast for 20 years
If they can do it in Austin – one of the most car-centric cities in the country – we can do it here too. Every neighborhood starts with an intention. In Baton Rouge, and the majority of cities around the country, the intention has historically been to develop commercial corridors and car-dependent destinations – hence, stringent parking minimums that require developers to spend resources servicing cars over people. In order to plan for vibrant, pedestrian-safe neighborhoods, we have to do something about these outdated regulations. In implementing the Government Street road diet, we saw that by taking away some road and parking space, the corridor was actually able to welcome more customers, cyclists, walkers, and others who add to the bustling street life. Current zoning rules limit our ability to plan for the kind of places where people actually want to visit, live, and start businesses. City councils across the country are realizing this, and taking steps to enact zoning measures that get rid of parking minimums. I'm glad to see it! The next time the subject of parking comes up in your community, remember: if we want walkable places, we can’t over-prescribe for parking space. #parking #walkability #urbandesign
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
npr.org
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Great to see so many cities realizing that endless #parking is a detriment and not benefit to thriving #downtowns. However, this isn't a new concept. CMSC recognized the City of Hartford with an Award of Excellence in 2017 for their transformative ZoneHartford, a comprehensive overhaul of the City's #zoning language, which included (among many positive changes) an elimination of costly parking requirements that inhibited #mainstreet pedestrian orientation. #parkingsolutions https://lnkd.in/eqaSXRGZ
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
npr.org
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As I re-listen to Joni Mitchell's opening line of Big Yellow Taxi, "They paved paradise, put up a parking lot," I can't help but think of the enormous amount of precious land I've seen covered in asphalt and concrete. Thankfully, forward-thinking municipalities are now giving us the chance to slow the paving down and reclaim pieces of our urban paradise. Austin and more than 50 other cities and towns have thrown out their government mandated parking spot minimums. These minimums, attached to almost every type of development, are often arbitrarily assigned, and have led to parking lot sprawl pretty much everywhere in the US. These sprawling areas of asphalt and concrete have made our cities hotter, less livable, less green, less walkable and less bikable, and less developable and affordable (yes, countless housing developments have been nixed because they couldn't meet parking minimums). By throwing out their parking spot minimums, these are cities displaying leadership and are broadcasting that it's time to be smarter (and more market driven) about how we use our urban real estate - that is, in the service of making our cities more livable for people, not more convenient for cars. Bravo, and may many more cities follow in their footsteps. #urbandevelopment #urbanmobility #urbanism #livablecities #austin
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
npr.org
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Cities from coast to coast are tossing out the rules for how many off-street parking spaces are needed for apartments and businesses, as NPR’s Laurel Wamsley reports. In addition to parking structures being expensive to build and prone to trapping heat, they also create sprawl and make neighborhoods make less walkable, experts say. In removing parking minimums, cities hope to end up with better public transit, more affordable housing, and walkable neighborhoods. So far, more than 50 cities and towns have thrown out their parking minimums — from Austin and San Jose, to Gainesville, Fla. and Anchorage, Alaska. But it hasn’t been without criticism. Read more here:
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
npr.org
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Great momentum in urban planning 🎉: 50+ US cities and towns have ditched their off-street parking minimums, from Austin, Texas, Anchorage, Alaska, San Jose, Calif., to Gainesville, Fla. This isn't just about reducing parking spaces. It's a visionary approach to prioritizing urban living, affordable housing, and efficient public transit over car dependency. It’s great to see Via's commitment to building tech-enabled, more efficient transit aligns perfectly with this new direction in city planning. Learn more from NPR: https://lnkd.in/eqaSXRGZ
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
npr.org
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An interesting thing about architectures is they have the values of their creators deeply embedded. In cities like Atlanta, the architecture has been about bringing dollars from outside the city in, often at the cost of the urban core itself. Parking space wastes networkable land. Infrastructural elements like stadiums pull in tens of thousands on game day but lay fallow 200 days of the year. And the car is made king at the expense of human-scale connectivity and even life. Atlanta is in the middle of an exciting reevaluation of all of this, trying to make neighborhoods and streets complete and safe for residents. In my neighborhood of Midtown, roads have been increasingly shared by many kinds of traffic. And the rules are being rewritten to accommodate that safely. This includes banning a very pedestrian- and cyclist-hostile maneuver, the free right on red. https://lnkd.in/eG66YSkU
Atlanta City Council approves right turn on red ban in these neighborhoods
atlantanewsfirst.com
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There is nothing so stable as change – Bob Dylan. 🅿Eliminating parking minimums is a significant shift in cities across the US. More than 50 big cities and counting. This growing trend encourages alternative transportation modes, improves housing affordability, and boosts walkability, paving the way for a more sustainable and accessible urban future. 👉But what does this mean for existing parking facilities? 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒! A forward-thinking approach to parking infrastructure will shape the future of the industry. 🚗Embrace innovation in your parking facilities. Discover how to 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 and 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞-𝐛𝐲-𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬. Visit Products & Services https://lnkd.in/eEUubR6t or email us at info.us@tkhsecurity.com #ParkingGuidance #Parking #SmartGarage #ParkingSolutions #SmartParking
Cities from coast to coast are tossing out the rules for how many off-street parking spaces are needed for apartments and businesses, as NPR’s Laurel Wamsley reports. In addition to parking structures being expensive to build and prone to trapping heat, they also create sprawl and make neighborhoods make less walkable, experts say. In removing parking minimums, cities hope to end up with better public transit, more affordable housing, and walkable neighborhoods. So far, more than 50 cities and towns have thrown out their parking minimums — from Austin and San Jose, to Gainesville, Fla. and Anchorage, Alaska. But it hasn’t been without criticism. Read more here:
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
npr.org
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We came across this article discussing the "People Over Parking" reform bill in Minnesota, which aims to eliminate off-street parking mandates. The bill has garnered support from various groups, including housing advocates, small businesses, property rights activists, and environmentalists. However, city engineers, represented by the City Engineers Association of Minnesota (CEAM), oppose the reform, arguing it will lead to overcrowded streets, difficulty in travel, reduced safety, and conflicts with existing city ordinances. This particular piece criticizes these claims as outdated and unsubstantiated, emphasizing the benefits of reducing parking mandates for community wealth, safety, and urban development. It advocates for a more holistic approach to street design that prioritizes slower traffic and community needs over automobile speed. What do you think? Have any of our Pennsylvania communities faced similar issues? What have your experiences been? What would you do in this situation? Tell us about it below! https://lnkd.in/eaVdyvAH
People Over Parking Reform Bill - What Do You Think?
strongtowns.org
