There's a huge problem with allowing only people in the neighborhood to park in the neighborhood--the neighborhoodies don't own the road, nor do they finance it. They might finance the private property near the road, but not the road itself. The general taxpayer does. So the general taxpayer should have the use of parking.

The real reason of restricting parking is that without that, the values of the private property would go down, so in essence, its just another scheme of privatizing the profits and socializing the cost. Taxpayers are again forced to subsidize private developers and property owners.

Private developers constantly overbuild with relation to parking. They don't provide enough off-street parking for their developments. And even if they did, it doesn't account for the increase in other vehicles, like service trucks, or visitors to said private property owners, who are expected to park in the street. There's just too much density.

The solution is to de-densify (suburbs, anyone?), and to keep the roads free. I can't stand transportation or urban planning professors. Most of them are whores, just like everybody else. And besides, if the prof told people the truth, he wouldn't be quoted in the press, which is just another huge whoring operation.

Long live the car, and long live gasoline! BTW, the use of coal also changed the environment for the better. People stopped cutting down trees for fuel. New England used to be almost completely deforested before people started burning coal and oil en masse for fuel. Another buried fact courtesy of the environmental loonies.

Posted by: BIOH on July 21, 2008 10:19 AM

the lack of easy parking is what causes me to drive to the nearest large city to do my shopping. and it's why walmart and other large stores always set up in downtown urban areas. why just the other day the wife and i were driving along, clucking our tongues at all the free parking we saw around us. shameful.

Posted by: cjm on July 21, 2008 10:24 AM

ST, BIOH -- Ah, if only things were that simple: car-loving capitalistic real people and developers vs. controlling-asshole bike-riding socialistic pointy=headed profs!

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on July 22, 2008 8:29 AM

The Amazon blurb sez:

American drivers park for free on nearly ninety-nine percent of their car trips.

I don't believe it. I think at least 5% of Americans have to rent a parking space at home, which means any trip home is not to free parking.

Consider the $billions spent on valet parking, parking at sporting events, parking at airports.

90%? Maybe. 75%? Probably. But 99%? No. Besides which, I don't think it's the low cost of parking but its availability that enables car culture.

Posted by: Rich Rostrom on July 23, 2008 12:30 AM






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