With the possible exception of downtown, virtually all of San Jose is filled with suburban shopping centers that look like this:
These government-mandated oceans of parking, aside from killing any possibility of small-scale urbanism, effectively mandate car dependency and kill other forms of environmentally friendly transportation in the process. But their negative impacts are far worse than that. Aside from promoting destructive modes of transportation, parking lots exacerbate the urban heat island effect, which is especially concerning given steadily rising temperatures in San Jose. In addition, parking lots are an incredible waste of valuable land. While no study has been conducted in San Jose, Los Angeles County (which is equally, if not more, car dependent as us) devotes a whopping 14% of its total land area to parking. This stifles opportunities for housing development and economic growth, as parking lots can effectively be thought of as "dead land". Things have to change.
Thankfully, they are. Government agencies, such as the VTA, are busy converting agency-owned parking lots into transit-oriented housing, while San Jose is exploring eliminating parking-minimums on future developments. This is especially important, as the anti-urban nature of our City's landscape is due more in part to government requirements and subsidies than public needs. But despite these changes, one important question still remains. What do we do about the excessive parking we still have? Eliminating future parking requirements won't change the strip-malls that are already here. We need to be able to allow for already-existing parking lots to be fully or partially converted to mixed use commercial and housing uses.
As a case in point, I'd like to point to the strip malls which surround the intersection of Capitol & McKee (which is served by VTA Light Rail).
As you can see, vital street frontage is almost entirely taken up by parking; promoting car dependency and making the neighborhood simply inhospitable for pedestrians and transit users. Allowing for partial conversions of street-facing parking lots (sample highlighted in blue) into mixed use development can reduce car-dependency and VMT, while also creating people-friendly cities. Using form-based review, aesthetic design standards, and ministerial approval can also expedite such necessary conversions.
However, these sorts of conversions should not simply be restricted to transit corridors. As I mentioned in my post, Mixed Use Suburbs?, our only hope for turning our suburbs into climate-resilient neighborhoods is to encourage mixed-use development within them. Such development serves to place amenities within walking/biking/transit distance of residents; reducing the need for cars.
Of course, eliminating excessive parking is only a part of the solution for environmentally damaging and anti-human cities. Moderate levels of density still need to be prevalent throughout the city. And our streets, which for centuries have served as the heart of the public sphere, need to be returned to the people.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed my content, please share and follow me on Twitter @personopolis.
Signing off,
AG
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