Alessia CalafioreAug 26, 2023
Erin Whalen

A newly released collection of maps show how much land in US cities is used as parking lots.

According to The Parking Reform Network, Wichita KS is 35% parking lot while Las Vegas, NV is 32% and San Bernadino, CA is a brain-melting 49% parking lot.

Imagine the possibilities if people decided to take back most of that land from empty parked cars and use it for housing and green space instead? 🌳 🚶‍♀️ 🚴 👨‍👩‍👦 🌲

https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/smart-cities/4162455-paved-paradise-maps-show-how-much-of-us-cities-are-parking-lots/

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#urbanism #sustainability #green #cities #environment

Paved paradise: Maps show how much of US cities are parking lots

Nearly one-third of downtown Salt Lake City is dedicated solely to car parking, according to data released by a nonprofit last week. And Salt Lake is far from alone. In Wichita, it’s 35%. In Las Vegas, it’s 32%. In San Bernardino, it’s even worse: 49% of the central city is composed of parking.

The Hill
Aug 25, 2023 at 8:59pmWeb
Show threadTeal AmoreAug 25, 2023
@erinwhalen the world is seeing more and more floods due to climate change. just imagine what the impact would be if we could shrink all these parking lots just a tiny amount each
Show threadNazaniAug 26, 2023
@theelectricteal @erinwhalen Some of the flooding is because of the pavement. Switching to water-permeable pavement can make a huge difference.
https://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=05-P13-00023&segmentID=3
Living on Earth: Water Permeable Concrete

Mexico City gets almost 30 inches of rain each year, but most of it runs out to the ocean through extensive drainage systems. During the summer rains, the streets flood and the aquifers are not refilling fast enough to keep the water supply at a constant level. A group of entrepreneurs believe they have a solution to the city’s water problems with a material called “Ecocreto.” Conrad Fox reports.

Living on Earth
Show threadheliopazAug 25, 2023
@erinwhalen It's amazing. Unfortunatelly, in the largest and middle-sized cities here in Brazil, the amount of areas for parking lots are also increasing a lot. That's a big environmental and urban planning issue. Thanks for sharing!
Show threadNazaniAug 25, 2023
@erinwhalen
And we won't even do vertical parking lots. 🤷‍♀️
Show threadLaura LaAug 25, 2023
@erinwhalen Build solar collectors over lots!
Show threadPepperbikeAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen a city with trees and public green spaces instead of parking lots. What an insane concept.
Show threadacute_distressAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen the US has too much land. There’s no downward pressure.
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@acute_distress - yes, same here in Canada.
Show threadJason LevineAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen This is fascinatingly cool data to me. My only problem with it is that they only evaluate the "city center", and at least for DC, their boundaries are wildly questionable — which makes me wonder whether the same is true for other cities. (Hysterically, on the Parking Reform Network's page for this, they show a photo of Washington DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood… which isn't in their definition of the city center!)
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@delfuego - oh, that's interesting. Thanks for pointing it out!
Show threadbkAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen What if they built housing for people instead of cars?
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@knutson_brain - what a concept, hey? 🙄
Show threadTheAnymouseProphetAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen
Pave paradise and put up a parking lot...
Show threadJonathan H. HarwellAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen And covered some of those lots with solar panels?
Show threadRideThatThingAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen @[email protected] has made a good video about it on youtube
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@deaththeman @[email protected] - good to know! Thanks for the tip.
Show threadWikinautAug 26, 2023

@erinwhalen

Knoflacher: Virus Auto (in German). 2009

Show threadRihards OlupsAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen Uses #OpenStreetMap, like it should. Article doesn’t mention it, though.
Show threadmorganAug 26, 2023

@richlv @erinwhalen Wow, that's _very_ relevant, since there are likely some amount of unmapped parking lots, so these percentages are a _minimum_.

[Edit: they in fact addressed that. I should've read the sources before blathering here.]

Show threadRihards OlupsAug 26, 2023

@mw @erinwhalen
I seem to recall them going over imagery and mapping any unmapped lots in those areas, unless I'm mixing up projects/activists.

Maybe this project only uses OSM basemap, as https://parkingreform.org/resources/parking-lot-map/ doesn't mention OSM beyond the copyright attribution.

Parking Lot Map - Parking Reform Network

Explore how much land cities dedicate to parking in over 100 major cities with our Parking Lot Map. Click the drop-down in the upper-left corner to select a city, then use the pop-up information card…

Parking Reform Network
Show threadmorganAug 26, 2023

@richlv @erinwhalen ha! I just came back to link to that page.

It sounds like they started with OSM, but then tried to get more complete data by tracing Google maps imagery. Which is kind of a shame, since i'm assuming that means they aren't contributing back to OSM.

Show threadRihards OlupsAug 26, 2023

@mw @erinwhalen
Yeah, and perhaps a bit silly even, as they don't benefit from work others put in OSM, and have to re-trace any changes on their own. That gets expensive very fast...

Also, is that a violation of Google Maps TOS?

Show threadmorganAug 26, 2023
@richlv @erinwhalen shhh!
Show threadmorganAug 26, 2023
@richlv @erinwhalen I mean, in terms of copyright, it's clearly fair use. But that would probably be a sticking point for contributing it back to OSM.
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@mw @richlv - Thanks for sharing your input! I wasn't familiar with Open Street Map and am happy to know it exists. #OpenSourceEverything
Show threadRihards OlupsAug 26, 2023

@erinwhalen @mw
You might have used OSM data even if you had not heard of the project yet :)
That data is used by Strava, Facebook, Komoot, Pokemon Go, Geocaching, Bolt, Wolt, even Garmin GPS devices come with OSM out of the box.

Some other prominent users are listed in https://welcome.openstreetmap.org/about-osm-community/consumers/ and https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Major_OpenStreetMap_consumers , but there are many, many more.

Who uses OpenStreetMap? | OpenStreetMap

Show threadXiaolasseAug 26, 2023

@erinwhalen Wouldn't it be awesome if legislation forced every car park to be covered by a roof with a meadow?

Cars would be kept cooled and dry; and the environment in the city would improve: better for insects, lower ground temperatures and better at handling heavy rain, better air quality, etc.

Show threadChris Lilley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Aug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen This is why Google Maps declares "you have arrived" when you are less than 80m from the destination.
California-based programmers assuming you are already in the parking lot.
And that the whole world is the same.
Show threadCrochetcatAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen I’m in Detroit metro area. Newly finished autos are stored in unused parking lots before being driven to sales lots. Make it make sense 😐
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@Crochetcat - Ugggghhhh - it's crazy to think of how much of our world we have just handed over to cars.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen Another curious (to non-US people) statistic: half of all street lights in the US aren't on streets, they're in car parks.
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@TimWardCam - whaaaat? I did not know that! Crazy.
Show threadDiane HallinenAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen Or at least put solar roofs on 30% of the parking lots.
Show threadErin WhalenAug 26, 2023
@Hallinen - yep, good idea.
Show threadRealGene ☣️Aug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen
In the short term, require that any parking lot with [insert arbitrary number here] or more spaces must install solar canopies.
Show threadPeter_PantherAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen
@BrentToderian amazing numbers
@grb090423
Show threadwauzAug 26, 2023
@erinwhalen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20
@GatekeepKen
Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell

I reuploaded this song from my old youtube account to this one. Hope you enjoy. I could'nt find an album version of this song on youtube so here it is. Subsc...

YouTube
Show thread🌊Ann Morris🐕🍀🌎🌊🌊Aug 27, 2023
@erinwhalen Shouldn't they also count car dealerships as well? Those take up acres and acres of land that could be put to better use.
Show threadguy,in,a,hatSep 5, 2023
@erinwhalen WOW 🤯! That's both semi expected if you think about it and also incredibly hard to fathom. A city can be 50% parking??? And then imagine all the road too. Like a city footprint could be 60% or 90% just roads!
Show threadErin WhalenSep 5, 2023
@werefreeatlast - Right?? Meanwhile, the actual space humans take up is miniscule...
Show threadguy,in,a,hatSep 5, 2023
@erinwhalen the pandemic should have taught us something.... there's no need to go to the office if you don't actually need to be there. But also, all the extra infrastructure already built so you could be at a desk at work instead of at the beach, it's a lot.