The provision of surface-level parking reduces urban density, making cities less walkable, bringing with it an array of other social problems. There are all so

The provision of surface-level parking reduces urban density, making cities less walkable, bringing with it an array of other social problems. There are all sorts of social problems associated with high-density housing as well. 1. Crime is rampant in high-density areas all over the world. 2. Children have nowhere to play. You can't just let your children wander freely. 3. Noise. One jerk with a subwoofer can spoil the night of a hundred people instead of just three. 4. And so forth. I'm sure if you looked at statistics you'd find all sorts of horrible social problems (mental illness etc) correlated with population density, even once you correct for income and so forth. Cramming too many people into too little space just has bad consequences. Personally I couldn't stand to live in Houston's outer suburbs, nor in central London, but there's plenty of middle-way that lets people have their own cars plus be able to walk places plus catch public transport when they need it. Give each family of four a quarter-acre block and you've still got ten thousand people per square mile. But hey, different strokes et cetera. People who think Los Angeles should look more like Paris should go live in Paris instead of trying to turn Los Angeles into Paris. And vice versa.