PARKING VS. POP CULTURE ‘Big YellowTaxi’ BY ISAIAH MOUWAND MARK BOTTS Parking vs. Pop Culture is a series of articles dedicated to significant parking


references found in pop culture. The winner, either parking or pop culture, will be determined bywhether the parking reference ended as a positive or negative experi- ence in the particular pop culture reference. This issue’s parking reference is taken from Joni Mitchell’s environmental anthem “Big Yellow Taxi” from the album “Ladies of theCanyon.”


Mitchell, “BigYellowTaxi” stealth- ily incorporates a playful melody with environmentally and political- ly charged lyrics. During a visit to Hawaii, Mitchell witnessed the visual conflict between natural magnificence and manmade mon- strosity – an event that served as muse to hermusical artistry:


W “I threw back the curtains [to


her hotel room windows] and saw the beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart … this blight on para- dise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song,” saidMitchell in a 1970 interview with journalist AlanMcDougall. And since its inception and


RITTEN IN the U.S. by Canadian singer/song- writer Joni


fact that parking has made significant strides in sustainability in recent years must bementioned. For example, Santa Monica, CA,


made an aggressive commitment to becomingmore sustainable with its Civic Center Parking Structure, built in 2008, which used recyclablematerials and low- emissivity glazing, offered free bicycle storage and reserved electrical vehicle spaces with electrical outlets, and uti- lized an efficient storm-drain water- treatment system. Parking organizations also are mak-


ing major strides in the sustainability movement. The International Parking Institute (IPI), for example, has a Sustain-


tion for Commuter Transportation (ACT): “There is growing recognition by those in the parking profession that they can improve their bottom line by offering options and incentives to avoid single- occupancy travel. Giving discounts for carpools, offering spaces for car-sharing vehicles, or providing bike parking are some of the ways TDMcan be offered by parking operators.While counterintuitive at first, offering TDMprograms can allow parking operators to charge higher rates by letting them offer their spaces to those most willing to pay.” As Helen Sullivan, IPI Communica-


“Then I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart … this blight on paradise. …”


recording, “BigYellowTaxi” with its familiar refrain “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” made its way onto Canadian,Australian and U.S. radio and into the public forum, with several covers – Amy Grant’s and Counting Crows’ being among the most famous – and top 100 chart rankings to boast. In her song, Mitchell stresses that


parking lots are a visible reminder of the lifeless ugliness that usually accompanies urban expansion. She sings about parking destroying paradise, but she probably con- sidered neither the paradise destroyed by the hotel in which she stayed nor the para- dise destroyed by the studio in which she recorded the song. All environmental inconsistencies


aside,Mitchell’s “BigYellowTaxi” scores a big one for the pop culture side. Although pop culture wins this round, the


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ability Committee, which is developing a “Platform on Sustainability.”At the 2011 IPI Conference & Expo May 22-25 in Pittsburgh, its Technology Committee will unveil a “Green Technologies for Parking” presentation. In addition, the IPI’s industry-wide


Parking Matters campaign to advance the parking profession is incorporating sus- tainability as one of its core messages in public relations outreach to building own- ers, architects, city officials and urban land planners, among others. Another “green” initiative that the


parking industry has opened up to is the TDM concept (Transportation Demand Management), which applies strategies to reduce travel demand. Says Brian D. Shaw of SamSchwartz Engineering and President of theAssocia-


FEBRUARY 2011 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


tions Counsel, says, “It’s not about paving paradise and putting up a parking lot – it’s about integrating parking wisely so that people can get to paradise.” Even though major strides


have been made, the parking industry can do still more to mini- mize its impact on the environ- ment and overcome negative con- notations associated with parking development. Whether or not you endorse


Joni Mitchells’ social/political views, her “BigYellowTaxi” does meet two of the major criteria for


pop music: simple lyrics and a repetitive melody. Before you know it, you’re hum- ming or singing along, “They paved paradise and put up a


parking lot. [Hey, hey] they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”Not surprisingly, we found ourselves singing aloud this parking insult chorus as we tried to point out parking’s initiatives toward sustainabil- ity. Pop culture takes the lead, 3-2.


Isaiah Mouw, a CAPP candidate who works for Republic Parking System, can be reached at imouw@republicparking.com. Mark Botts, who attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, is a graduate student in Regent University’s MFA program. He can be reached at mark.botts@yahoo.com.


PT


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