Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about parking

Get Your Camera Ready for Empty #BlackFridayParking Lots

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 25, 2015 | No Comments

#blackfridayparking Stillwater, OK earlier this morning. I know: college town, morning, etc. but still… pic.twitter.com/VkgAK709Ar — Shawn Strate (@stratetoyou) November 28, 2014 If you’re out shopping on Black Friday, keep your cell phone camera close at hand. Strong Towns is continuing its annual tradition of #BlackFridayParking — capturing photos of half-empty parking lots on America’s high holy […]

Arkansas Town Breaks Ground By Eliminating Commercial Parking Minimums

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 9, 2015 | No Comments

In an effort to boost development downtown, leaders in Fayetteville, Arkansas (population ~80,000), last week eliminated minimum parking requirements for commercial properties citywide. Leading the push were planning commissioners like Tracy Hoskins, whom the Fayetteville Flyer described as a “longtime businessman and developer.” Hoskins argued, persuasively, that businesses are capable of deciding for themselves how many […]

Eyes on the Street: Chicago Police SUVs That Aren’t Serving or Protecting

By John Greenfield | Sep 18, 2015 | 19 Comments

It goes without saying that it’s bad when motorists park or stand their vehicles in crosswalks or bike lanes. Obviously, the former makes it harder for pedestrians to safely cross the street. The latter forces cyclists to merge into moving traffic to get around the obstacle, which can be dangerous for less experienced riders. It can […]

Park(ing) Day Scenes From Coast to Coast

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 18, 2015 | No Comments

Today is a very fun day in cities around the U.S., when advocates for better public spaces unleash their imaginations on the dreary places where we normally store cars. Park(ing) Day is “an annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks,” according to its organizers. Below we are showcasing […]

New Pritzker Project Is Basically A Transit-Ignoring Development

By John Greenfield | Jul 2, 2015 | 33 Comments

As I’ve stated before, Colonel Jennifer Pritzker, a historic preservationist and an heir to the Pritzker family fortune, has used her wealth in creative ways to help revitalize the Rogers Park community. She deserves credit for restoring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Emil Bach House, as well as bringing the Mayne Stage music theater and other businesses […]

Newark Clears Bike Lane of Cars, Solves Parking Problem With Meters Instead

By Michael Andersen | Jul 1, 2015 | No Comments

Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Three months after Newark drew national attention for considering removal of New Jersey’s only protected bike lane in order to allow illegal double-parking, the city has found a different solution. Instead of […]

Don’t Worry, Clybourn Merchants — The PBL Parking Issue Is Covered

By John Greenfield | Jun 24, 2015 | 17 Comments

In an article posted on DNAinfo yesterday, business owners along Clybourn Avenue in Old Town said they were worried that parking conversions for upcoming curb-protected bike lanes on the street might scare off customers. However, the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is spearheading the project, and the Chicago DOT, which is consulting, have crunched the […]

Sauganash Whole Foods Is Building Parking Where There Should Be Housing

By Michael Podgers | May 19, 2015 | 14 Comments

Sauganash Place, a mixed-use development near Peterson and Cicero avenues, is a strikingly urban element in the eponymous Chicago neighborhood, a quiet, mostly residential community on the Far Northwest Side. Featuring several stories of condominiums with balconies, plus a Whole Foods Market on the ground floor, the building wouldn’t look out of place in denser […]

How Seattle Children’s Hospital Took the Lead on Healthy Transportation

By Angie Schmitt | May 8, 2015 | No Comments

It’s more than a little ironic that in many places, hospitals are some of the worst offenders when it comes to perpetrating unhealthy transportation patterns. Often surrounded by enormous parking decks, hospitals have earned a reputation as isolated institutions hermetically sealed off from surrounding neighborhoods. But that’s beginning to change. Healthcare providers are undergoing a fundamental shift from focusing on […]

The Spectacular Waste of Half-Empty Black Friday Parking Lots

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 1, 2014 | No Comments

If there’s one thing American planners fear, it’s that someone, sometime, somewhere, won’t be able to immediately find a parking space. Gigantic manuals have been devoted to avoiding this “problem,” and laws have been passed in nearly every community in the nation to ensure that no one ever lacks for parking. Chuck Marohn at Strong […]

Congress Gives Itself More Free Parking Than Its Own Rules Allow

By Will Handsfield | Nov 24, 2014 | No Comments

As TransitCenter and the Frontier Group reported last week, the federal government pays a huge $7.3 billion subsidy to people who drive to work by making commuter parking expenses tax exempt. There are countless reasons for Congress to scrap this poorly-conceived, congestion-inducing subsidy. While policymakers consider the big picture, they also ought to examine how […]

Spielman Trots Out “War on Cars” Rhetoric for Report on Parking Tax Hike

By John Greenfield | Oct 15, 2014 | 25 Comments

Veteran Sun-Times reporter’s Fran Spielman’s recent piece on Mayor Emanuel’s plan to raise the city’s parking garage tax was a classic example of windshield-perspective journalism. As part of his 2015 budget, Emanuel has proposed raising the parking tax by 10 percent on weekdays and 11 percent on weekends, to 22 percent and 20 percent, respectively. […]

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