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Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World
An entertaining, enlightening, and utterly original investigation into one of the most quietly influential forces in modern American life—the humble parking spot
Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a handful of Americans are tragically killed by their fellow citizens over parking spots. But even when we don’t resort to violence, we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Indeed, in the century since the advent of the car, we have deformed—and in some cases demolished—our homes and our cities in a Sisyphean quest for cheap and convenient car storage. As a result, much of the nation’s most valuable real estate is now devoted exclusively to empty and idle vehicles, even as so many Americans struggle to find affordable housing. Parking determines the design of new buildings and the fate of old ones, patterns of traffic and the viability of transit, neighborhood politics and municipal finance, the quality of public space, and even the course of floodwaters. Can this really be the best use of our finite resources and space? Why have we done this to the places we love? Is parking really more important than anything else?
These are the questions Slate staff writer Henry Grabar sets out to answer, telling a mesmerizing story about the strange and wonderful superorganism that is the modern American city. In a beguiling and often absurdly hilarious mix of history, politics, and reportage, Grabar brilliantly surveys the pain points of the nation’s parking crisis, from Los Angeles to Disney World to New York, stopping at every major American city in between. He reveals how the pathological compulsion for car storage has exacerbated some of our most acute problems—from housing affordability to the accelerating global climate disaster—ultimately, lighting the way for us to free our cities from parking’s cruel yoke.
Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a handful of Americans are tragically killed by their fellow citizens over parking spots. But even when we don’t resort to violence, we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Indeed, in the century since the advent of the car, we have deformed—and in some cases demolished—our homes and our cities in a Sisyphean quest for cheap and convenient car storage. As a result, much of the nation’s most valuable real estate is now devoted exclusively to empty and idle vehicles, even as so many Americans struggle to find affordable housing. Parking determines the design of new buildings and the fate of old ones, patterns of traffic and the viability of transit, neighborhood politics and municipal finance, the quality of public space, and even the course of floodwaters. Can this really be the best use of our finite resources and space? Why have we done this to the places we love? Is parking really more important than anything else?
These are the questions Slate staff writer Henry Grabar sets out to answer, telling a mesmerizing story about the strange and wonderful superorganism that is the modern American city. In a beguiling and often absurdly hilarious mix of history, politics, and reportage, Grabar brilliantly surveys the pain points of the nation’s parking crisis, from Los Angeles to Disney World to New York, stopping at every major American city in between. He reveals how the pathological compulsion for car storage has exacerbated some of our most acute problems—from housing affordability to the accelerating global climate disaster—ultimately, lighting the way for us to free our cities from parking’s cruel yoke.
11 pages, Audible Audio
First published May 9, 2023
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July 14, 2023
If I had a nickel for the number of books I've read this year that featured parking, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it sure is strange.
This was an interesting book on the effect of parking upon communities—how parking is available, and how it is talked about as an accessibility issue when there are other accessibility issues the problem of parking masks, and how strangely calculated parking laws govern residential and commercial buildings. It's a focus on how car-centric the US has become, and how detrimental that is to our cities, towns, communities and ourselves.
If you're looking to focus on people instead of parking and cars, this is an interesting read.
This was an interesting book on the effect of parking upon communities—how parking is available, and how it is talked about as an accessibility issue when there are other accessibility issues the problem of parking masks, and how strangely calculated parking laws govern residential and commercial buildings. It's a focus on how car-centric the US has become, and how detrimental that is to our cities, towns, communities and ourselves.
If you're looking to focus on people instead of parking and cars, this is an interesting read.
June 13, 2023
"Whoever said life was about the journey and not the destination never had to look for a place to park. Every trip must begin and end with a parking space, and in no uncertain terms. We expect parking to be immediately available, directly in front of our destination, and most important, free. This is unique. It would be unimaginable to hold any other good or service to the same standard." (p xi)
A terrific look at how parking has shaped our cities. After finishing the book I'm tempted to order a copy for every city counsellor in Saskatoon, plus an automatic recurring order for every person who writes into the Star Phoenix complaining about bike lanes and cyclists.
Perhaps the #WarOnCars should really be the #WarOnParking. Discovered this book from the War on Cars podcast!
Highly recommended, accessible (no pun intended), fun, and fast read.
A terrific look at how parking has shaped our cities. After finishing the book I'm tempted to order a copy for every city counsellor in Saskatoon, plus an automatic recurring order for every person who writes into the Star Phoenix complaining about bike lanes and cyclists.
Perhaps the #WarOnCars should really be the #WarOnParking. Discovered this book from the War on Cars podcast!
Highly recommended, accessible (no pun intended), fun, and fast read.
May 15, 2023
A great addition to my mental well of urban planning/car culture knowledge
September 29, 2024
4 ☆
That was the epiphany journalist Henry Grabar had after reporting about housing, transportation, and urban policy. It was the inspiration for Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. There's an ambitious claim in its title which is frankly a bit exaggerated. About ninety percent of the book is about parking's relevance and impact on American cities.
In Part One, Grabar described "the mess we have made" from fights to the death over street parking to how many affordable housing projects have been made impossible by the requirement for a certain amount of on-site parking. Apparently street parking may be free (depending on where you are, it's not free everywhere in my American hometown), but constructing parking in a residential property can be cost prohibitive. The NIMBYists have learned how to complain about the lack of parking as a way to derail projects for low income residents. These chapters were only mildly interesting as they traversed familiar territory.
Part Two included accounts of paying for parking, and this section piqued my interest. I never before realized how effective a parking garage could be as a means of laundering money. The value of street parking was underscored by Chicago's $1 billion blunder, when in 2009 it had rashly sold its parking meters along with several other rights to investors led by a Wall Street investment firm.
Part Three relayed stories about how the problem of an over emphasis on parking can be resolved. It began with an introduction to Donald Shoup, an economist at the University of California Los Angeles. Shoup had published The High Cost of Free Parking in 2004. His followers have been dubbed the "Shoupistas" who proselytize Shoup's doctrine:
From this premise, urban policy recommendations have flowed: 1) abolish parking minimums for new construction; 2) separate out garage rents from apartment rents so those without cars don't subsidize those who have cars; 3) acknowledge that more parking means less housing, especially affordable housing; 4) charge for street parking and use the proceeds to improve the neighborhoods; and 5) convert the extra parking into something new. Grabar provided some interesting examples of these policies in action. The ones that caught my attention had originated in California -- such as the state policy of allowing ADUs or Accessory Dwelling Units (effectively increasing housing density) and Los Angeles' ARO or Adaptive Reuse Ordinance which allows the conversion of empty downtown office buildings into residential units.
I have been following the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on health, society, and economies, especially its adverse impact upon previously bustling central business districts (ie downtowns). As cities adapted to the constraints imposed by the spread of Covid-19, they actually implemented some of these urban policy recommendations. So surprisingly, these suggestions aren't really that extreme. We have all just gotten accustomed to the status quo that's been decades in the making. As a consequence, Americans have had an increasing prevalence of people over-paying for housing relative to their income (no more than 30 percent of income has been the gold standard) and homelessness.
I ended up warming up more to Paved Paradise as I got deeper into the book. Yes, some of the information was redundant and some of his claims would have benefitted by more statistics (at least if they had been included in the notes). Overall though this was a seemingly obscure topic that nonetheless wielded broad influence on many Americans. The author may be excused for the hyperbole in his title.
In big cities like New York and Los Angeles, where real estate was expensive, the twin ribbons of asphalt on every curb held immense value. This was some of the most expensive land in the world. And you could have it for free, provided you used it for just one thing: parking.
That was the epiphany journalist Henry Grabar had after reporting about housing, transportation, and urban policy. It was the inspiration for Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. There's an ambitious claim in its title which is frankly a bit exaggerated. About ninety percent of the book is about parking's relevance and impact on American cities.
By square footage, there is more housing for each car in the United States than there is housing for each person.
[F]or all the talk about roads and cars, every vehicle spends an estimated 95 percent of its life span parked.
In Part One, Grabar described "the mess we have made" from fights to the death over street parking to how many affordable housing projects have been made impossible by the requirement for a certain amount of on-site parking. Apparently street parking may be free (depending on where you are, it's not free everywhere in my American hometown), but constructing parking in a residential property can be cost prohibitive. The NIMBYists have learned how to complain about the lack of parking as a way to derail projects for low income residents. These chapters were only mildly interesting as they traversed familiar territory.
Part Two included accounts of paying for parking, and this section piqued my interest. I never before realized how effective a parking garage could be as a means of laundering money. The value of street parking was underscored by Chicago's $1 billion blunder, when in 2009 it had rashly sold its parking meters along with several other rights to investors led by a Wall Street investment firm.
Part Three relayed stories about how the problem of an over emphasis on parking can be resolved. It began with an introduction to Donald Shoup, an economist at the University of California Los Angeles. Shoup had published The High Cost of Free Parking in 2004. His followers have been dubbed the "Shoupistas" who proselytize Shoup's doctrine:
There is too much parking, and it's too cheap.
From this premise, urban policy recommendations have flowed: 1) abolish parking minimums for new construction; 2) separate out garage rents from apartment rents so those without cars don't subsidize those who have cars; 3) acknowledge that more parking means less housing, especially affordable housing; 4) charge for street parking and use the proceeds to improve the neighborhoods; and 5) convert the extra parking into something new. Grabar provided some interesting examples of these policies in action. The ones that caught my attention had originated in California -- such as the state policy of allowing ADUs or Accessory Dwelling Units (effectively increasing housing density) and Los Angeles' ARO or Adaptive Reuse Ordinance which allows the conversion of empty downtown office buildings into residential units.
I have been following the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on health, society, and economies, especially its adverse impact upon previously bustling central business districts (ie downtowns). As cities adapted to the constraints imposed by the spread of Covid-19, they actually implemented some of these urban policy recommendations. So surprisingly, these suggestions aren't really that extreme. We have all just gotten accustomed to the status quo that's been decades in the making. As a consequence, Americans have had an increasing prevalence of people over-paying for housing relative to their income (no more than 30 percent of income has been the gold standard) and homelessness.
I ended up warming up more to Paved Paradise as I got deeper into the book. Yes, some of the information was redundant and some of his claims would have benefitted by more statistics (at least if they had been included in the notes). Overall though this was a seemingly obscure topic that nonetheless wielded broad influence on many Americans. The author may be excused for the hyperbole in his title.
July 6, 2023
Comprehensive and intriguing, but ultimately redundant and disorganized. I was fascinated for the first 20-25% but bored by the final 25-30%. Too many anecdotes, not enough proposed solutions. Or at least they were not presented in a straightforward, crisp manner. Also, my goodness, I felt like I could play a drinking game for every chapter where you took a sip for every time a form of the word ‘park’ was used and finished your drink every time ‘mandatory parking minimum’ was stated. All in all, though, I’m glad I read this. It gave me a lot to consider, for a long time.
May 16, 2023
I liked this, but I found it more broad and less focused than I wanted. Grabar is making the argument (and making it quite well) that parking and its regulation is a primary factor (if not the primary factor) in the sprawl and disruption we see in current urban environments. To put that more simply, this is one of those books where the author claims "[what I'm writing about] is everything", and Grabar's focus is parking.
Where I thought the book shone was 1) anytime Grabar illustrated the impact of parking on social justice and city governance issues and 2) anytime he shone the light on potential fixes. So, for example, he starts the book off exploring how arguments over new developments and perceived needs for parking serve as proxies for NIMBY prejudices against multi-dwelling affordable housing. And there's a chapter about Chicago's billion dollar mistake of privatizing street parking with the horrible consequences of needing to consult a corporation when the city wants to use curb space for a bike lane. I also really enjoyed the sections on fixes, especially when Grabar talked about dynamic pricing for street parking and the need to raise rates at the curb and lower them in garages. By the end of the book, I was looking at my city with new eyes and appreciation for how parking regulations skew properties towards the ugly.
What I didn't like so much was much of the material that strayed away from the above. There's a small section on the number of people killed in arguments over parking and a chapter on the role of organized crime in the twentieth century business of cash parking. I found neither part that illuminating.
Where I thought the book shone was 1) anytime Grabar illustrated the impact of parking on social justice and city governance issues and 2) anytime he shone the light on potential fixes. So, for example, he starts the book off exploring how arguments over new developments and perceived needs for parking serve as proxies for NIMBY prejudices against multi-dwelling affordable housing. And there's a chapter about Chicago's billion dollar mistake of privatizing street parking with the horrible consequences of needing to consult a corporation when the city wants to use curb space for a bike lane. I also really enjoyed the sections on fixes, especially when Grabar talked about dynamic pricing for street parking and the need to raise rates at the curb and lower them in garages. By the end of the book, I was looking at my city with new eyes and appreciation for how parking regulations skew properties towards the ugly.
What I didn't like so much was much of the material that strayed away from the above. There's a small section on the number of people killed in arguments over parking and a chapter on the role of organized crime in the twentieth century business of cash parking. I found neither part that illuminating.
June 4, 2023
Much more heavy handed than I was expecting. I opened this expecting a more measured, disinterested exploration of how parking has affected culture and infrastructure around the world. This book focuses exclusively on the U.S., mentioning transportation in other nations for comparison only.
Am I a U.S. resident who picked this up in the U.S.? Yes, but the subtitle says "the World." Please don't overpromise in your title. I'm still salty that Clarissa only explained some things to me instead of "it all," and I don't want to deal with that kind of disappointment again.
Grabar makes a case for the very obvious and less obvious ways that the environment and Americans' daily lives are impacted by having so many cars per capita and a parking demand that exceeds what we should need for a well planned transportation infrastructure. But he's so opinionated that even though I'm on his side about the need for solutions that ease the demand for parking, I don't trust that Grabar has adequately taken into account any opposing views to his. Reading this book felt like attending a debate and leaving after the first speaker made their opening remarks.
Am I a U.S. resident who picked this up in the U.S.? Yes, but the subtitle says "the World." Please don't overpromise in your title. I'm still salty that Clarissa only explained some things to me instead of "it all," and I don't want to deal with that kind of disappointment again.
Grabar makes a case for the very obvious and less obvious ways that the environment and Americans' daily lives are impacted by having so many cars per capita and a parking demand that exceeds what we should need for a well planned transportation infrastructure. But he's so opinionated that even though I'm on his side about the need for solutions that ease the demand for parking, I don't trust that Grabar has adequately taken into account any opposing views to his. Reading this book felt like attending a debate and leaving after the first speaker made their opening remarks.
June 4, 2023
The best thing I can say about any book, really, but especially a book of non-fiction is that it changed my perspective. Or gave me one where I didn't before. After reading this book, I'll never look at a parking lot the same way again.
August 12, 2023
Great subject. Poor editing. This book is far too long and repetitive. The details are often too dense, and the example stories too long. This could be a real eye-opening book for many people, but I fear it will instead do the opposite.
June 23, 2024
Really fascinating look at the role parking plays in society. It's a little sinister and counterintuitive. There is lots of room for discussions on both sides of the debate, but the reality is that parking as governing policy has shaped the problems that we deal with today such as cost of housing and shopping areas and access to shops, not to mention the notion of public policy that uses parking violations to raise revenue for the cities or government workers who use parking enforcement to line their pockets. And excessive parking requirements in building permits make affordable housing unavailable. And the urban planning that encourages the use of cars to go to work which means more highways, more congestion, etc. In 1919 the idea of having a garage attached to a single-family home was absurd, fast forward to 2023 and the more garage space attached to the home, the higher the value of the home. Same as it ever was, the wealthy dictate the policy, and the poor are left unable to deal with the outcomes and they pay the price. Rich demand for parking so that they can drive in from the suburbs, the requirement for parking drives up the cost for any building project (commercial and residential) and those costs are passed on to the people who don't need it...and so it goes.
There are a variety of issues associated with parking that people don't connect the dots. One is mentioned above, the fact that the requirements for parking greatly increase the cost of any building project. Low-cost housing can't be done in many of the cities because of the laws associated with parking requirements. Many of the low-income families use public transit and don't even own cars. The issue of climate change looms large here with parking creating a need for travel because the costs to live in the area are too high because of parking requirements. It's a cycle. More cars on the road because it's cheaper to live away from the cities. More cars on the road also means a less pedestrian and bicycle safe cities and towns. Much of our land is put to use for parking which could be used for parks or other quality of life functions. Parking contributes to urban sprawl. As self-driving cars become more common, the need for parking will be diminished. Fewer people will own cars and or will be driving. Self-driving cars over the next few years have the potential to substantially change the way that we build our living spaces. Uber and Lyft are also already having some impact. Cars are (though we don't think of it this way) for the wealthy. Other countries have also had major issues associated with the ideologies of parking policies and planning. Many European countries have backed away and successfully restructured focused less on drivers and cars and more on urban planning for safer communities with access to businesses on foot or with public transit and/bicycling. The quality of life increased in doing so.
Excellent book, well worth your time. The more I think about the book, the more enlightening it is.
4+ Stars
Listened to Audible. Rob Shapiro was an excellent narrator for this book!
There are a variety of issues associated with parking that people don't connect the dots. One is mentioned above, the fact that the requirements for parking greatly increase the cost of any building project. Low-cost housing can't be done in many of the cities because of the laws associated with parking requirements. Many of the low-income families use public transit and don't even own cars. The issue of climate change looms large here with parking creating a need for travel because the costs to live in the area are too high because of parking requirements. It's a cycle. More cars on the road because it's cheaper to live away from the cities. More cars on the road also means a less pedestrian and bicycle safe cities and towns. Much of our land is put to use for parking which could be used for parks or other quality of life functions. Parking contributes to urban sprawl. As self-driving cars become more common, the need for parking will be diminished. Fewer people will own cars and or will be driving. Self-driving cars over the next few years have the potential to substantially change the way that we build our living spaces. Uber and Lyft are also already having some impact. Cars are (though we don't think of it this way) for the wealthy. Other countries have also had major issues associated with the ideologies of parking policies and planning. Many European countries have backed away and successfully restructured focused less on drivers and cars and more on urban planning for safer communities with access to businesses on foot or with public transit and/bicycling. The quality of life increased in doing so.
Excellent book, well worth your time. The more I think about the book, the more enlightening it is.
4+ Stars
Listened to Audible. Rob Shapiro was an excellent narrator for this book!
May 26, 2023
The author hates cars. I expected a more balanced approach explaining how parking affects the world instead of an anti-car manifesto, but here we are.
There are several well thought out arguments, but few actionable ideas for improvement short of inventing a utopia.
Driving to work takes 30 minutes, but public transit takes almost 2 hours each way and I often encounter drug deals. Also, there are no rain shelters at the train stop. I have the resources to circumvent this - why wouldn't I drive?
The book also ignores the safety issues women and trans people encounter on public transit. For this, I recommend the book "Invisible Women".
I've been groped multiple times on transit,
I've been stalked by strangers for blocks after getting off the bus. A friend has had her movements tracked with an air tag that someone dropped in her purse on the train.
I've been held at knifepoint in broad daylight a so-called walkable neighborhood. Now I drive (and bring a buddy).
You know where none of this happens? My car.
I think this book came really close to making a good point but instead just came off as a series of complaints about cars in general.
There are several well thought out arguments, but few actionable ideas for improvement short of inventing a utopia.
Driving to work takes 30 minutes, but public transit takes almost 2 hours each way and I often encounter drug deals. Also, there are no rain shelters at the train stop. I have the resources to circumvent this - why wouldn't I drive?
The book also ignores the safety issues women and trans people encounter on public transit. For this, I recommend the book "Invisible Women".
I've been groped multiple times on transit,
I've been stalked by strangers for blocks after getting off the bus. A friend has had her movements tracked with an air tag that someone dropped in her purse on the train.
I've been held at knifepoint in broad daylight a so-called walkable neighborhood. Now I drive (and bring a buddy).
You know where none of this happens? My car.
I think this book came really close to making a good point but instead just came off as a series of complaints about cars in general.
September 3, 2024
Wow. Incredible. Mandatory. Do read. Let's smash things together.
Paved Paradise starts out dark. I struggled. First we get a catalog of parking murders. Crazy, entitled white men with their own system of rules that cannot be violated, especially by people who are not white men, who decide that this is their parking spot, or this parking spot should only be parked in for a certain amount of time, or whatever insane parking pedantry drives someone to decide that the only option is to murder someone for putting their car away wrong. Then the history: Cities hollowed out, business seized by eminent domain, so that we could have parking and more parking and more parking and why is no one going downtown anymore? And the ecological consequences and the run-off, and heated water entering streams and rivers and ruining aquatic habitats, and salt, and flash floods, and the amount of land destroyed, flora and fauna habitats, and the trapped heat, and the heat islands, and more run-off, and all of it. And parking garage crime, because people will hand over fistfuls of cash to park in a place during the game and who can keep track of cash when it's in fistfuls? Then things start to get a little better. We have parking studies. We have Chicago selling off the rights to their own parking meters for eighty years and how stupid that was. We can change street parking so that people will park in ramps. And we can turn all the attached garages in California into granny flats. So there's hope. Not providing everyone all the free parking in the world in the first place would have been a better idea, but hope is nice too.
Paved Paradise starts out dark. I struggled. First we get a catalog of parking murders. Crazy, entitled white men with their own system of rules that cannot be violated, especially by people who are not white men, who decide that this is their parking spot, or this parking spot should only be parked in for a certain amount of time, or whatever insane parking pedantry drives someone to decide that the only option is to murder someone for putting their car away wrong. Then the history: Cities hollowed out, business seized by eminent domain, so that we could have parking and more parking and more parking and why is no one going downtown anymore? And the ecological consequences and the run-off, and heated water entering streams and rivers and ruining aquatic habitats, and salt, and flash floods, and the amount of land destroyed, flora and fauna habitats, and the trapped heat, and the heat islands, and more run-off, and all of it. And parking garage crime, because people will hand over fistfuls of cash to park in a place during the game and who can keep track of cash when it's in fistfuls? Then things start to get a little better. We have parking studies. We have Chicago selling off the rights to their own parking meters for eighty years and how stupid that was. We can change street parking so that people will park in ramps. And we can turn all the attached garages in California into granny flats. So there's hope. Not providing everyone all the free parking in the world in the first place would have been a better idea, but hope is nice too.
October 19, 2023
Let's go destroy some parking
September 26, 2025
I mean my god
December 10, 2023
If you have a car you pay for parking. If you rent an apartment, you’re paying for parking. If you own a home, you’re paying for parking. If you take public transit, you’re paying for parking. If you look up and see a neighborhood once filled with beautiful and interesting buildings now cluttered with ugly parking lots, you pay for parking. Grabar makes this so clear with a history of parking right from the beginning of cars with case studies on the politics, economics, architecture, and sociology that drives parking in America. Fascinating read about a sneakily important aspect of any urban policy discussion.
May 20, 2025
I apologize to anyone who asked me what I was reading while I had this book because I know I jumped into a monologue about parking regulations and policy. This book was just so fascinating though! Grabar used studies and stories to backup my own pre-existing observations about parking in America. This book has forced me to re-examine our cities as it relates to parking, cars, affordable housing, safe streets, and transportation.
September 16, 2023
Fascinating subject matter, and some really fun anecdotes but this book is horribly edited. Both overlong and in an order that makes little sense, Paved Paradise makes a good argument for “taking back” land used for parking spaces and removing parking minimums. I just wish this was better constructed and focused. 3/5
March 14, 2025
My recent nerdy read. Felt like a more approachable version of Donald Shoup’s “The High Cost of Free Parking”. I think everyone should read this (it impacts all of us!). I do wish there had been citations/endnotes throughout to reference the studies he was pulling from, but they’re included in the back. A bit wordy at times, but very well-written!
May 18, 2023
I guess I really don't care that much about parking. Another nonfiction book that would have been more successful as an article in New Yorker or other similar publication.
May 7, 2024
One of the best nonfiction books I’ve read this year, if not the best.
July 8, 2024
This book made me really angry every time I turned to it, and I think every time I see a parking lot for the next few months, I'm going to continue getting angry.
October 17, 2025
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!!! I am not joking, I found my jaw on the floor at some points & laughing out loud at others. Truly worth the read. For anyone who wants to know why it’s so hard to build affordable housing… it’s bc we prioritize housing our cars over housing people! I’m so serious everyone has to read this, I learned so much
November 28, 2024
I am lucky enough to live in one of few American cities where I don’t need to own a car, and ever since I moved here, I’ve been much more aware of cars, driving, and parking both inside and outside of the city, which is why I wanted to read this book. I liked the way this was written, and the author truly answered every single I could possibly have about parking.
August 16, 2024
I've been thinking about this book a lot lately, not just because it's rare to find a book on parking that is so fun and readable, but also because at one point in the book, the author states that it's rare to find any works of fiction where parking plays a big part.
So of course I immediately started thinking of some.
In Sue Grafton's novels, the fates of some of Kinsey Milhone's entire cases have rested on her not being able to find a parking space near her house, or near the dive bar / art gallery where she's tailed a suspect. Every book, Kinsey talks about where she parks and how close it is to her objective. It's legitimately an integral part of the color of the stories.
Marion Todd's DI Clare Mackay nearly takes a back seat to the quest for parking in See Them Run:
Not that I'm complaining. I think both Grafton and Todd do a great job using the quest for parking as a way of worldbuilding, bringing us a ton more details about the mean streets down which their detectives must go (and in some cases turn the wheels to the curb on).
But now that Grabar has mentioned the perceived lack of parking as fictional plot point, I cannot stop seeing it everywhere.
Even so, other than that, this book was both enjoyable (especially the chapter on San Diego NIMBYs) and incredibly informative. It provided a number of different ideas for anyone looking to approach their local select board to try to get some sense talked into development requirements.
For instance, I called up the Select Boards for three of the little towns in my neck of rural Vermont, to find out what the minimum parking requirements are for new developments in each town. And I discovered:
Town A: Requires 2 parking spaces per each new dwelling unit; 1 space per motel/hotel room + 1 for each on-site fulltime employee, 1 space for every tent or trailer site for campgrounds, and for restaurants it's the restaurant's full capacity divided by two + 1 space per every fulltime employee. Which is... a lot.
Town B: 2 per each new dwelling unit; 1.5 per motel/hotel room; 1.1 per unit of elderly lodging or housing. All businesses are calculated by square footage: 4 spaces or 2 spaces per 1K square footage -- depending on whether you're judged to have "regular" or "limited" customer traffic. Also 1 space per 4 fixed seats in a place of assembly (Town A is 1 space per 3 seats). And parking lots in toto are capped at a maximum of 80 spaces. ZERO requirement for bike parking (which sticks mightily in my craw.)
Town C: No minimums, but they specify that "adequate parking" must be provided (which gives the SelectBoard a ton of room to be weird about it), and that it must comply with ADA requirements (huzzah!)
All of which is to say that parking requirements for new / renovated development in the United States is ridiculous, complicated, and totally all over the place. The outlines of the three towns I share above are as simplified as I could make it after reading the technical specs, but they're by no means plain language.
And this book, while it won't get you to plain language, will get you some way to understanding why parking requirements are so badly and inconsistently implemented across the country, as well as providing some impetus for change. I do wish the book went a little farther into the how of the change, but honestly, the stories are so good I don't really mind.
So of course I immediately started thinking of some.
In Sue Grafton's novels, the fates of some of Kinsey Milhone's entire cases have rested on her not being able to find a parking space near her house, or near the dive bar / art gallery where she's tailed a suspect. Every book, Kinsey talks about where she parks and how close it is to her objective. It's legitimately an integral part of the color of the stories.
Marion Todd's DI Clare Mackay nearly takes a back seat to the quest for parking in See Them Run:
Just beyond the crossing she saw Jensen's Diner. She scanned the street, left and right for a parking space then saw the white reversing lights on a car just ahead. She hit the brakes and flashed the driver out, driving quickly into the space before anyone else could take it.
North Street, with fewer shops and cafes, wasn't as busy as South Street and Clare managed to find a parking space close to Albany Place.
The street was quieter than it had been on Sunday. People would be at work, children at school. She parked behind Billy Dodds' dark-grey Qashqai.
They arrived in Dundee at the back end of the rush hour and navigated their way through the teatime traffic jams. Ninewells was a sprawling teaching hospital in the west end of the city. Built in the 1970s, its medical school and research facilities drew specialists from all over the world. Clare managed to find a parking space in one of the closer car parks and they set off for the main concourse.
Not that I'm complaining. I think both Grafton and Todd do a great job using the quest for parking as a way of worldbuilding, bringing us a ton more details about the mean streets down which their detectives must go (and in some cases turn the wheels to the curb on).
But now that Grabar has mentioned the perceived lack of parking as fictional plot point, I cannot stop seeing it everywhere.
Even so, other than that, this book was both enjoyable (especially the chapter on San Diego NIMBYs) and incredibly informative. It provided a number of different ideas for anyone looking to approach their local select board to try to get some sense talked into development requirements.
For instance, I called up the Select Boards for three of the little towns in my neck of rural Vermont, to find out what the minimum parking requirements are for new developments in each town. And I discovered:
Town A: Requires 2 parking spaces per each new dwelling unit; 1 space per motel/hotel room + 1 for each on-site fulltime employee, 1 space for every tent or trailer site for campgrounds, and for restaurants it's the restaurant's full capacity divided by two + 1 space per every fulltime employee. Which is... a lot.
Town B: 2 per each new dwelling unit; 1.5 per motel/hotel room; 1.1 per unit of elderly lodging or housing. All businesses are calculated by square footage: 4 spaces or 2 spaces per 1K square footage -- depending on whether you're judged to have "regular" or "limited" customer traffic. Also 1 space per 4 fixed seats in a place of assembly (Town A is 1 space per 3 seats). And parking lots in toto are capped at a maximum of 80 spaces. ZERO requirement for bike parking (which sticks mightily in my craw.)
Town C: No minimums, but they specify that "adequate parking" must be provided (which gives the SelectBoard a ton of room to be weird about it), and that it must comply with ADA requirements (huzzah!)
All of which is to say that parking requirements for new / renovated development in the United States is ridiculous, complicated, and totally all over the place. The outlines of the three towns I share above are as simplified as I could make it after reading the technical specs, but they're by no means plain language.
And this book, while it won't get you to plain language, will get you some way to understanding why parking requirements are so badly and inconsistently implemented across the country, as well as providing some impetus for change. I do wish the book went a little farther into the how of the change, but honestly, the stories are so good I don't really mind.
July 14, 2024
If you’re wondering “how can a book about parking be interesting?” - so was I! And yet, if I could give it six stars I would.
Thinking about making this a big part of my personality and becoming insufferable about parking! Everyone should read this so we can talk about it ty!
Thinking about making this a big part of my personality and becoming insufferable about parking! Everyone should read this so we can talk about it ty!
June 20, 2023
I read The High Cost of Free Parking while I was working on my dissertation and found it eye opening. I would recommend this if you don't have the time to dedicate to a 600+ page book on parking. This is much slimmer but he gets through many of the same points, namely that the U.S. is designed around cars, including parking requirements that are incredibly bloated and non-sensical.
Nothing drove me more crazy in my hometown than listening to people oppose any kind of development, especially the kind that might generate pedestrian traffic with a discussion about how there "just wouldn't be enough parking there," which always feels like "no one goes there, it's too crowded" on an endless spiral. The truth is the less parking there is the more people will walk and the more pleasant the experience of living there, but everyone is trained to expect parking immediately at their destination with no walking. Oh, and the parking should be free. Parking isn't the only answer to re-making our cities to be more pleasant, walkable, desirable places to be, but it's a place to start.
"Des Moines has the same number of parking spaces as Seattle, though it is less than one third of the size. The Iowa capital has almost 20 parking spaces per household. Many American downtowns, such as Little Rock, Newport News, Buffalo, and Topeka, have more land devoted to parking than buildings."
Nothing drove me more crazy in my hometown than listening to people oppose any kind of development, especially the kind that might generate pedestrian traffic with a discussion about how there "just wouldn't be enough parking there," which always feels like "no one goes there, it's too crowded" on an endless spiral. The truth is the less parking there is the more people will walk and the more pleasant the experience of living there, but everyone is trained to expect parking immediately at their destination with no walking. Oh, and the parking should be free. Parking isn't the only answer to re-making our cities to be more pleasant, walkable, desirable places to be, but it's a place to start.
"Des Moines has the same number of parking spaces as Seattle, though it is less than one third of the size. The Iowa capital has almost 20 parking spaces per household. Many American downtowns, such as Little Rock, Newport News, Buffalo, and Topeka, have more land devoted to parking than buildings."
September 24, 2023
I was not expecting a book about parking to be so laugh out funny. Absolutely fascinating window into the psyche of urban planners and driver behaviour.
April 29, 2025
You know I love my niche non-fiction! But in this case, not niche at all, because parking really DOES explain the world (or at least cities and suburbs).
There is a huge wealth of knowledge in here about urban studies, transportation, American history, politics, and more - and will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the way I think and view the world around me.
Grabar talks about how, because it’s seen as boring and not given much thought, parking is often used as a proxy for other issues in urban development - i.e. as a scapegoat for NIMBYs to block affordable housing. And because parking is so omnipresent in our world, the parking-related anecdotes he peppers throughout the book are shockingly wide-reaching and keep a dry topic extremely interesting (i.e. the black market for ice cream truck permits in NYC…which has led to murder!). Fascinating stuff!
Bonus points for lots of examples from SoCal and Chicago (Paulina Brown Line stop mentioned!).
There is a huge wealth of knowledge in here about urban studies, transportation, American history, politics, and more - and will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the way I think and view the world around me.
Grabar talks about how, because it’s seen as boring and not given much thought, parking is often used as a proxy for other issues in urban development - i.e. as a scapegoat for NIMBYs to block affordable housing. And because parking is so omnipresent in our world, the parking-related anecdotes he peppers throughout the book are shockingly wide-reaching and keep a dry topic extremely interesting (i.e. the black market for ice cream truck permits in NYC…which has led to murder!). Fascinating stuff!
Bonus points for lots of examples from SoCal and Chicago (Paulina Brown Line stop mentioned!).
January 9, 2026
“Recognize that more parking means less housing, especially affordable housing.”
“Without parking baked into the streets and the architecture, and without fixing the density of residents and the style of commercial activity, how many more people could live in walkable places? How many car-dependent places, freed from parking law, could grow into neighborhoods where people could ride a bike?”
Just a quick reimagining of how much more vibrant and people-oriented communities could be without cars dominating our streets. OH MY GOD ONCE YOU SEE IT YOU CANT UNSEE IT.
“Without parking baked into the streets and the architecture, and without fixing the density of residents and the style of commercial activity, how many more people could live in walkable places? How many car-dependent places, freed from parking law, could grow into neighborhoods where people could ride a bike?”
Just a quick reimagining of how much more vibrant and people-oriented communities could be without cars dominating our streets. OH MY GOD ONCE YOU SEE IT YOU CANT UNSEE IT.
December 5, 2025
Christian, we’ll chat more about this via the good ole fashioned spoken world, but summary:
Super interesting, well written and researched. I’m pretty down with most of the proposed solutions, however I think there are some pretty big counterpoints to a lot of the proposed solutions/descriptions of the problem that go unexplained and unaddressed. RIP the OG parking policy psycho Don Shoup
Super interesting, well written and researched. I’m pretty down with most of the proposed solutions, however I think there are some pretty big counterpoints to a lot of the proposed solutions/descriptions of the problem that go unexplained and unaddressed. RIP the OG parking policy psycho Don Shoup
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