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recreation spaces and places, as well as community places such as schools, libraries and churches. Safe and attractive surroundings that all can feel comfortable using and even inspired by—at all times of the day and night. Places where we and our children can grow, learn and prosper. Some traditional East Coast cities can provide a car-free urban experience through walking, bikes and transit, but they also have their parking facilities as many still desire to own vehicles.

bicycle parking, multiple mixes of parking such as for zip car and bike sharing, park and recreation space, connections with daily activities such as grocery, day care and dry cleaning, connections to alternative auto powering sources, and shared parking.

Automated parking can be cost competitive and provide gathering spaces for the community at the drop-off and pick-up area

From these basic human needs, the solutions for parking for livable communities range from the more commonplace approach to parking the automobile in one facility and then walking, biking or taking transit to our final destination, to the future visions of automobiles brought right through and into our living and work spaces. The key goals for parking in creating livable communities should be integration, flexibility and creativity; not removal and hiding. Parking facilities creating livable communities need to encourage the following: friendly and safe walking environments, pedestrian-safe active sidewalks, linkages to other forms of transportation,

Parking should become more condensed, be capable of adaptive re-use and/or linked to many other uses. Smaller more frequent facilities may seem expensive or impractical, however do not necessarily need to be when thought about as part of a whole community plan with shared parking. This will allow for shorter walking distances to your destination as other building types and places for the community will not need to be spread apart by a single large parking facility. Smaller parking facilities will allow more direct access to our destinations. The path from your car to the sidewalk should be safe and visible. Parking integrated into the urban fabric of the street such as in our 1920’s facilities with storefronts on the sidewalk allows for the facility to appear as a building and integrated into our urban fabric through design. Parking facilities can be integrated spatially within a building, that is, they can weave within the different levels and configurations of the building type. One residential example, Hancock Lofts, designed by Julie Eizenberg in

Left to right: Budapest mixed-use with interior parking: Francesco Andreani, Garages (Rome, Italy: Gangemi Editore, 1997), p.32. Parking garage integrated into the street facades: Albert Kahn, “Sales and Service Buildings, Garages, and Assembly Plants” , The Architectural Forum, March 1927 , pp.265, plate 49. Parking outside your door 27 stories high: CarLoft—CarLoft®.

www.npapark.org PARKING July/August 2010

July/August 2010 Parking

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