Uneasy Rhetoric

LJUrban is currently wrestling with “how to accommodate both parking and accessibility and good livable, enduring design.” They’ve asked for feedback on their blog, so go on over and tell them what kind of parking you think works.

One of the projects they mention is an attached home development, and they’re considering shared underground parking. Provided there is adequate storage available for the units, I think this is a fine idea. Depending on the nature of the units, I think separate garages is possible, but probably not the best use of land.

One development I was impressed with are the Riva condominiums in West Sacramento. My wife and I toured the models and were very impressed with the way they’d managed to create condos with significant living space (up to 1,700 square feet) in relatively small footprints. One problem, however, was the garages opened on multiple sides, requiring far more asphalt than a shared parking structure would have required.

I’m a big fan of minimizing the use of automobiles (despite the inexplicable fact that I’m a NASCAR fan), but the car isn’t going away. I own one. And anywhere I live, I’d need someplace to park it, preferably where I wouldn’t have to pay by the hour.

So, even though modern enlightened design downplays the car — for example by placing garage entries on alleyways instead of on the street in the suburban snout-house fashion — there has to be room for the damned things somewhere.