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The reasons outlined on that thread are very specific to the Los Angeles area. Not that crazy regulations don't exist in SF, but the car-centric parking space r
by 48snickers 9y ago
The reasons outlined on that thread are very specific to the Los Angeles area. Not that crazy regulations don't exist in SF, but the car-centric parking space regulations in Los Angeles are a huge part of the outlined cost. I don't think that applies broadly.
- loeg 9y agoCar-centric parking space regulation is very common in American cities, not just LA.
- mandelbrotwurst 9y agoI don't know this for sure, but as someone who lives in SF, I would guess that's less the case here than in LA. The city is much less supportive of private vehicle ownership (for good reason imo, but that's a bit off-topic) than most cities in the U.S.
- dkasper 9y agoThat's true now but up until the 2000s SF did have residential parking requirements for most of the city.
- ryandrake 9y agoAnd thank goodness for that! As much as everyone here hates cars, the unfortunate fact is we currently need them. If I could snap my fingers and be able to afford a $1.2M "starter home" within walking distance to work, trust me, I would do it in a heartbeat. If there were any politicians serious about building useful public transit, I'd vote for them. But, for now, at least in most metro areas (where the jobs are), most people can only afford to live in places where you need a car to get anywhere.
- davidw 9y agoWe should be free to choose how much parking we need, and pay for it: http://www.bendbulletin.com/opinion/5249862-151/guest-column-end-bends-mininum-parking-requirements http://www.bendbulletin.com/opinion/5249862-151/guest-column...
- mantas 9y agoI live in a country where very little parking is required and whatever parking is built is either free-for-all or come at a huge price. People cheap out, but still expect to drive. The end result is parking in grey-legal spots, parking in too narrow streets making it dangerous, parking in ex-greenery-now-sandy-parking-lot and whatnot. And lots of bad blood between neighbours who took whose spot :) Yes, there're rules to fine such behaviour. But it'd be political suicide to enforce those rules because everybody breaks them.
- davidw 9y agoThere was some of that where I lived in Italy, very little in Austria, and it was all much better than having vast, empty parking lots sitting there while house prices climb and climb. https://www.google.com/maps/@44.0492073,-121.3266077,3a,75y,154.14h,90.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7tal1gFwoa3gFpp9NJ617Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@44.0492073,-121.3266077,3a,75y,... Is a pretty common sight in the US. What a colossal waste of land! Here's the book everyone cites on the issue: https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193236496X https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193...
- mantas 9y agoOh, I'm definitely not advocating for such massive parking lots. Just saying that having little parking lots sucks too. I'm talking about soviet times bloks with parking for 0.2 car/apartment or so. By the way, over there housing costs climb regardless of little parking required. Apartments in central locations (= walkable/bikable to most offices) cost a shitload of money compared to houses in suburbs. Especially once you step in family-sized market.
- 9y ago
- CanSpice 9y agoThis is a bit false. It assumes that the cost of living is driven solely by housing. There have been numerous studies done that show that the total cost of living doesn't change much between city and suburbs. Housing costs are higher in the city, but they're largely balanced out by lower transportation costs and house upkeep costs (apartments are cheaper to heat/cool than houses, for example).
- davidw 9y agoHere you go: "A cheap home isn’t affordable if it comes with high transportation costs." https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/06/the-problem-with-how-we-measure-affordable-housing/531378/?utm_source=SFTwitter https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/06/the-problem-with-how-...
- ryandrake 9y agoMy transportation costs (including the purchase price of the car, all gas and maintenance) are an order of magnitude less than the home price delta between where I currently live and where I'd have to live in order to give up my car.
- closeparen 9y agoThis cannot be stressed enough. Too many people on HN seem baffled by car culture, or think it's some kind of conspiracy, but the answer is right here. Savings on land prices for getting far from the center are massive, the costs of manufactured goods like cars are tiny, and the solution that urbanism offers is is only to raise the price on the latter.
- davidw 9y agoCars are part and parcel of modern life and they won't be going away any time soon, and I don't think more than a few extremists really want that anyway. What a lot of people do is to rebalance things so we have more of a 'right tool for the job' culture in the US. Cars for some things, bikes or walking for closer trips (enabled by legalizing things like corner stores or neighborhood barbers again), public transportation for other things.
- thescriptkiddie 9y agoNo, fuck that. "Drive until you qualify" is not a sustainable model.