zoning

Since the beginning of time, parkers have argued that they should park free. Yet the economic justifications for pricing are well documented - pricing leads to more efficient parking use and a multimodal transportation system. Many arguments against pricing don’t hold up to scrutiny. I have been chronicling them in my work with local stakeholders over three decades. This blog post summarizes the top five arguments I’ve encountered and provides responses that are useful in the heat of the battle.

I don’t think we talk enough about wonder in planning schools today. That sense of fascination, awe, of being spellbound by the immensity, delicacy, beauty of something, is an essential ingredient of our human spirit, and to making life joyous and meaningful. Yet it goes virtually undiscussed in professional planning programs, with few insights offered about how to go about designing and planning places and communities that provide these experiences.  Planners are a wonkish bunch, more likely to wax on about special use permits, density bonuses, and sliding-scale zoning.