This story was originally Appeared in Guardian is part of climate desk collaboration.
They’re gray rectangles, and when all 2 billion are lined up, they’re roughly the size of Connecticut, covering an area of about 5,500 square miles. Parking lots are ubiquitous in life in the United States, but many cities and states refuse to force more on people, claiming it harms communities and worsens the climate crisis.
For many years, local governments have mandated the construction of parking lots as part of their development. These measures, along with sprawling highways and endless suburban sprawl traversing mostly minority neighborhoods, cemented the car as the default mode of transportation for most Americans.
But starting in January, California will become the first U.S. state to ban minimum parking spaces, banning them from areas with public transit. Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a “win-win” move to reduce global warming emissions. He will also help ease the shortage of affordable housing in states that have been slow to build new homes.
Several cities across the country are rushing to do the same, including Anchorage, Alaska. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nashville, Tennessee recently relaxed or eliminated requirements for developers to build new parking lots. Garnot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School, accused political leaders of making it look like a “bomb was dropped” by filling downtown with parking lots.
“Eliminating parking minimum fees is an amazing step. It’s a piece of the climate policy puzzle,” said Wagner, noting that transportation is the largest source of global warming emissions in the United States. “There’s a massive rethinking going on right now. This is good for cities and families.”
Climate advocates and public transport advocates have posted about the previously thorny issue of minimum parking spaces. air picture Demonstrate on social media prime tracts of land handed over to parking lots, and create more dense communities by increasing opportunities to walk, bike, or ride buses and trains rather than simply driving a car. I am working with the City Council to develop it.
Cities such as Buffalo, New York. Fayetteville, Arkansas, reported a surge in activity reducing parking minimums several years ago and converting previously abandoned buildings into shops, apartments and restaurants. Until now, developers have considered such a task impractical, as it would often require building a parking lot several times larger than the building itself.
Nashville is one of a new wave of cities that want the same thing. “The problem is climate, walkability, less traffic, and everyone has a car,” said Angie Henderson, a Nashville City Council member who proposed changes to Nashville’s downtown parking lot. It’s a necessity,” he said.
Henderson says her district’s dental clinic has room for only a handful of patients, yet it needs to cut trees from a nearby hillside and can accommodate 45 cars. He said he was shocked to be forced to build a parking lot.
