ValnaoMar 7

Downtown Spokane, Washington. The red areas represent surface parking lots, while the purple ones indicate parking garages

https://sh.itjust.works/post/56435742

Show threaddreugeworstMar 7
wow, there’s so little city in this city… where are the people supposed to be?
Show threadSoggyMar 8
Spokane is a very sprawling city. It’s the second most populous in Washington but a third the density of Seattle. Including the “metropolitan area” of both Spokane is a seventh as densely populated.
Show threadchunes
Are there lots of parking lots because it’s sprawling or is it sprawling because there are a lot of parking lots?
Mar 8 at 11:09amWeb
Show threadSoggyMar 8
A bit of both but the root is that land is comparatively cheap. Building out is economically incentivized over building up. Municipalities can put their thumb on the scale by raising land taxes based on acreage but zoning restrictions are the actual solution (and these tend to be unpopular because the immediate effect is that development costs rise and bring rents with them)