4 ms·

If people won't build 'houses for cars', the cars will start piling up on the streets instead. I prefer cars to at least be hidden.

bmmayer1 7y ago
I think the point of the piece is that LA has far too much parking available already and that the city shouldn't force developers to build more parking. Obviously no one would stop anyone from building parking if they wanted but LA does need housing and neighborhoods that don't require car accessibility.
- sokoloff 7y ago
  The linked article states that parking maximums are in fact a thing.
  - bobwaycott 7y ago
    Specifically, the article mentions parking maximums twice—and both times as potential policy suggestions meant to improve the situation.
    - sokoloff 7y ago
      Yes; that’s an example where someone would “stop [someone] from building parking if they wanted.”
narrowtux 7y ago
The end goal here is that people who live in big cities give up their personal car. The journey there might involve this problem though and it depends on the city to enforce new rules. For example, my home town Hamburg (in Germany) is a bad example of too few parking spaces being policed correctly. At some point, the drivers give up searching for a free space that's still in a walkable distance from their destination and will park illegally, which leads to one of 2 lanes being permanently blocked by resting traffic. Apparently the police doesn't care about these illegally parked cars. There are lots of cheaper and more space-efficient alternatives for personal transport, which were mentioned in the article. It's also possible to rent shared cars for the rare case you actually need a car (if you want to transport large furniture for example). Speaking from my anecdotal experience, not owning a personal car works pretty well, I commute to work with an electric bike in 20 minutes (which is actually quicker than taking the train or driving a car and then look for a parking space). If I want to buy furniture and I can't transport it with my bike, I can still rent a car. On top of not having the dreadful experience of having to search 10-20 minutes for a parking space every time, it's also a lot cheaper.
- atemerev 7y ago
  Well, I am absolutely not interested in giving up my car. It is my private space and enabler of my freedom of movement, without relying on external services and timetables. It adds a lot of value to my life. If my city becomes too unfriendly for me and my car, I will have to move elsewhere. I work from home, though, and I don’t use the car for daily commuting. Commuting is the main driver of most traffic problems in the cities, so there’s that.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - esoterica 7y ago
    If you want to keep your car then you should pay the full cost (no free roads and parking for you to use) and externalities (carbon, noise/particulate pollution) of car ownership. Car owners currently receive trillions of dollars worth of market distorting subsidies from the government.
    - atemerev 7y ago
      I pay the road tax, car tax and fuel tax on that, so I’m fine, thanks. There are no government subsidies for cars in Europe. Parking here is also quite expensive.
      - esoterica 7y ago
        I don't know where you live, but in most countries those do not cover the full cost of car ownership (don't forget to include the externalities of carbon emissions and noise/particulate pollution).
        atemerev 7y ago
        Switzerland. My car is regularly checked for compliance for low emissions standards. Tram line near my house produces much more noise pollution compared to cars.
CalRobert 7y ago
Instead, we have people piling up on the street because we don't build homes for people.
- efa 7y ago
  Curious - are you suggesting LA needs more public (free) housing for the homeless? Or just more "normal" homes that have to be rented/purchased?
  - CalRobert 7y ago
    Either. Both. Whatever. Just more homes. It's not just the homeless, it's the family of 3 living in a 1 bed apartment (when they'd rather not be). It's the person living in Ventura who spends 4 hours a day crawling down the asphalt ribbons of death in a metal box for their job in Playa del Rey. Every time someone says "I want my free car storage on the street so don't build homes here" they're saying "I want you to have to commute farther so I get free taxpayer-provided parking welfare"

bmmayer1 7y ago

I think the point of the piece is that LA has far too much parking available already and that the city shouldn't force developers to build more parking. Obviously no one would stop anyone from building parking if they wanted but LA does need housing and neighborhoods that don't require car accessibility.

sokoloff 7y ago
The linked article states that parking maximums are in fact a thing.
- bobwaycott 7y ago
  Specifically, the article mentions parking maximums twice—and both times as potential policy suggestions meant to improve the situation.
  - sokoloff 7y ago
    Yes; that’s an example where someone would “stop [someone] from building parking if they wanted.”

narrowtux 7y ago

The end goal here is that people who live in big cities give up their personal car. The journey there might involve this problem though and it depends on the city to enforce new rules. For example, my home town Hamburg (in Germany) is a bad example of too few parking spaces being policed correctly. At some point, the drivers give up searching for a free space that's still in a walkable distance from their destination and will park illegally, which leads to one of 2 lanes being permanently blocked by resting traffic. Apparently the police doesn't care about these illegally parked cars. There are lots of cheaper and more space-efficient alternatives for personal transport, which were mentioned in the article. It's also possible to rent shared cars for the rare case you actually need a car (if you want to transport large furniture for example). Speaking from my anecdotal experience, not owning a personal car works pretty well, I commute to work with an electric bike in 20 minutes (which is actually quicker than taking the train or driving a car and then look for a parking space). If I want to buy furniture and I can't transport it with my bike, I can still rent a car. On top of not having the dreadful experience of having to search 10-20 minutes for a parking space every time, it's also a lot cheaper.

atemerev 7y ago
Well, I am absolutely not interested in giving up my car. It is my private space and enabler of my freedom of movement, without relying on external services and timetables. It adds a lot of value to my life. If my city becomes too unfriendly for me and my car, I will have to move elsewhere. I work from home, though, and I don’t use the car for daily commuting. Commuting is the main driver of most traffic problems in the cities, so there’s that.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- esoterica 7y ago
  If you want to keep your car then you should pay the full cost (no free roads and parking for you to use) and externalities (carbon, noise/particulate pollution) of car ownership. Car owners currently receive trillions of dollars worth of market distorting subsidies from the government.
  - atemerev 7y ago
    I pay the road tax, car tax and fuel tax on that, so I’m fine, thanks. There are no government subsidies for cars in Europe. Parking here is also quite expensive.
    - esoterica 7y ago
      I don't know where you live, but in most countries those do not cover the full cost of car ownership (don't forget to include the externalities of carbon emissions and noise/particulate pollution).
      - atemerev 7y ago
        Switzerland. My car is regularly checked for compliance for low emissions standards. Tram line near my house produces much more noise pollution compared to cars.

CalRobert 7y ago

Instead, we have people piling up on the street because we don't build homes for people.

efa 7y ago
Curious - are you suggesting LA needs more public (free) housing for the homeless? Or just more "normal" homes that have to be rented/purchased?
- CalRobert 7y ago
  Either. Both. Whatever. Just more homes. It's not just the homeless, it's the family of 3 living in a 1 bed apartment (when they'd rather not be). It's the person living in Ventura who spends 4 hours a day crawling down the asphalt ribbons of death in a metal box for their job in Playa del Rey. Every time someone says "I want my free car storage on the street so don't build homes here" they're saying "I want you to have to commute farther so I get free taxpayer-provided parking welfare"