Unbundling Cost of Residential Parking as Translated in Shoes from Page 13
the cost of any development, which down the line is reflected in the higher housing prices and rents. For some reason, the City Gods have decided that Planning
and Zoning spell out how much parking must be provided by each building, each house and each establishment. The mini- mums seem to be one size fits all. It doesn’t matter that much in my area becausemany people choose towalk. When a branch of the “Sex in the City”-made-famous NYC
bakery opened on 3rd Street in LA, themain hurdle preventing it fromopening a fewmonths soonerwas parking. The owners had to show they could provide so many parking spaces per cus- tomer.What saved them was a combined valet parking station that servicesmany shops and restaurants on that couple of blocks of 3rd Street. LAis religious aboutminimumparking requirements. Be it a
pizza place where the locals can stroll for their favorite slice or a bar where people actually should walk or take a taxi to get their happy hour fix, they all have parkingminimums. My local yoga studio had a challenging time opening, main-
ly because of these parking requirements. It doesn’t matter that most of us walk to yoga practice or ride bikes. Those rules seem to have been written byMoses, and don’t take into consideration the area’s urban nature. So today, being an avid runner and tempted by the possibil-
ity of increasing my Manolo collection or at least getting a new iPad, I decide to go for another rainy
run.After all, it’s not every-
day that a clumsy girl can feel like a dancing in the rain with Gene Kelly. Imust go running and ponder the option of getting rid ofmy
car. I ama “Shoe-ista” and “Shoupista,” after all. If I get rid ofmy car and have no choice but to pay full rent for both my living quarters and those of my car, perhaps I can somehow sub-lease my garage spaces to a nearby office/retail worker? There has to be some Christmas/shoemoney in it. And if not, I will be a follower of Professor Shoup’s theories
not just in thought but in practice also. I will be preventing air pollution and getting even fitter by walking and cycling. And perhaps down the line – because a future nondriver like
me, who loves shoesmore than parkingminimums – those park- ing requirements that Shoup calls “fertility drugs for cars” will finally be abolished or at least reduced. Especially in the urban areas where land and parking prices are higher and where trans- portation alternatives exist. Also, perhaps in the future, because ofmy choice not to own
a car, the cost of my housing will be unbundled from the cost of my residential
parking.After all, only one set of ruleswaswritten in stone.
Astrid Ambroziak is a part-time trainer, writer, philosopher and guru. She lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at
astrid@parkingtoday.com.
PT
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