Spot's Parking Lot

Want to teach your children about the problem of parking minimums?

Strong Towns member Bridget Brown wrote a children's book that addresses this issue in a cute and compelling way. It's called Spot's Parking Lot and it follows the adventures of a little dog figuring out the many valuable things he could do with a single parking spot:

Bridget says of the book:

I actually wrote a first draft in my head on my morning walks between the bus stop and my job in downtown Minneapolis in 2002. There was a lot of often-wide-open surface parking there at the time. [...] Spot is modeled on a dog my husband I would see on our Sunday walks to the food co-op. 

I was maybe more sensitive to the built environment than usual because I had recently moved to the Twin Cities from Madison, (Wisconsin) where, at least in the core where I spent most of my time, it was so much easier to get around without a car. [...]

It took me many years to finally finish and publish Spot, but I persisted because it seemed almost all transportation-related books in the children’s sections were just more cheerleading for the private automobile. I wanted there to be something else out there.

Check out this smart and adorable book if you're looking to introduce your kids to some Strong Towns concepts at an early age. And if you're old enough to operate a camera, please join us for our annual #BlackFridayParking event.

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