Each Black Friday, we invite people to participate in the Strong Towns movement by sharing pictures of parking in their communities that is excessive or underused — even on the busiest shopping day of the year. But with parking reform gaining momentum across North America, what comes after #BlackFridayParking?
Read MoreBuild a bipartisan coalition. Launch a pilot project. Speak to the core issues facing your community. That’s how Spokane, Washington, was able to eliminate costly parking mandates. Here's the full story.
Read MoreWe’ve assembled a guide to three towns and cities of varying sizes that have recently revised their parking regulations. That way, when you decide to pursue parking reform in your own community, you can use them as examples of how parking reform strengthens cities.
Read MoreThe evolution of a parking lot in Harrisonburg, Virginia, shows how cities allowing land usage to shift alongside community needs creates more productive and appealing places.
Read MoreLand use reform is gaining momentum and laws are evolving rapidly across North America. Here are some changes that are likely coming in the future and what impacts they might have.
Read MoreCreating change requires a lot of energy and momentum, but you don't have to generate it all by yourself. You can identifying existing trends and events to give your advocacy more power. One of these trends is parking season.
Read MoreIn this episode, host Tiffany Owens Reed talks with Council Member Paloma Delgadillo about her efforts to make her city of Broomfield, Colorado, more resilient.
Read MoreParking reform isn't just about eliminating spaces; it's about unlocking a city's potential. From spurring development to enabling affordable housing, parking reform can benefit many people in diverse ways. Anchorage, Alaska, is experiencing this firsthand.
Read MoreLocal governments that follow a “mindlessly pro-business” approach sacrifice community well-being in the name of commerce, but end up devastating their cities’ downtowns by misunderstanding what helps an area succeed economically. It’s time to realize that helping local businesses means helping the community, too.
Read MoreRecently, the city of Winnipeg, Canada, decided to ban on-street parking near a dangerous intersection, hoping that wider sight lines would reduce collisions. The process the city used to create this plan, as well as the discussion it triggered with the public, offers insights for advocates hoping to make their streets safer.
Read MoreChurches occupy an awkward spot in the parking debate. Their parking lots are necessary, but only a couple of times a week. Otherwise, the lots sit empty, wasting valuable land. How can churches and cities handle this problem? Here are three possibilities.
Read MoreEast Grand Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, manages to maintain a unique and magical sense of place even while being car-centric. Here’s how it does it, and how other cities can design their built environments to capture that sense of place.
Read MoreCar-sharing gives people the perks of a private vehicle without the hassles of owning one, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Here's how urbanists can use this car-rental model to strengthen their communities.
Read MoreCity engineers rely on faulty logic and misrepresentations to maintain the status quo. This was made blatantly clear in a recent letter from the City Engineers Association of Minnesota (CEAM) — and it’s why a growing number of engineers are breaking from the party line to support reform. Here are CEAM’s top four arguments against parking reform and why they’re wrong.
Read MoreWith work patterns shifting as technology advances, retrofitting suburban office buildings has become increasingly important to developers and planners. Here are five ways you can make your office building more appealing and resilient.
Read MoreLast week in Colorado, advocates for people-centered cities and incremental housing pulled off a massive win, sending a bill package full of land-use reforms to be signed into state law. Here’s how they did it.
Read MoreDo you know what it's like to have your housing be dependent on a country club membership that you can't afford? Renters across the United States do, as they're forced to pay for amenities like private parking spaces or pool access — even if they never use them.
Read MoreDo you have a favorite food truck? These micro businesses are often features of their communities, and they represent an important stage of incremental development. But strict zoning laws can put these businesses at risk. Hot Dog House FL learned this the hard way when parking mandates evicted them from their main operating location.
Read MoreWhen the owners of Lawrence Hall bought the abandoned building, they had a vision of reviving it into a food hall that would support small businesses and help their community thrive. They never imagined that a few parking spots would put their dream on hold for seven years.
Read MoreIf offered the choice between paid and free parking, many people would probably choose the latter. But free parking may be creating more problems than it’s worth.
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