Found in 23 comments on Hacker News
wonder_er · 2024-05-06 · Original thread
I do desired them for their _objective_ incompetence. Among serious traffic people, globally, american traffic planners are regarded as children in a corner eating play dough.

I have plenty of nuance, here you go:

- https://zoningverydifferentthanours.substack.com - https://josh.works/issues-in-golden - https://josh.works/parking-in-golden - https://josh.works/about-roundabouts

I could go on. Do you want to start with Donald Shoup's [The High Cost of Free Parking](https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/...) or my friend Alain Bertraud's beautiful book about urban _economics_ as the right frame of analysis for managing shared city resources: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39644188-order-without-d...

There's a deep and intimate relationship between american zoning laws, american mobility regimes, and the american ethnic cleansing of all non-whites: https://josh.works/full-copy-of-1922-atlanta-zone-plan

Tell me more about my lack of nuance. You might be right, fwiw, but it might kinda be the point. I'm not interested in a message of "your opposition of ethnic cleansing is _insufficiently nuanced_.", though it is slightly humorous.

btilly · 2023-03-08 · Original thread
I have no idea whether it is true where you are, but it certainly IS true where I am.

First, commercial property taxes in California are generally higher than residential. Which is an incentive to attract business, not residents. https://www.hechtgroup.com/the-different-taxes-imposed-on-co...

Second, you're seriously underestimating the cost of roads. As https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193... pointed out, the bit of road your car is parked on usually costs more than the car. Now walk around your neighborhood and look at how much road there is. ALL of it costs that much. Most of us don't think about it, but it has to be paid for somehow. And it really isn't cheap.

jseliger · 2020-02-14 · Original thread
What's the name of this mythical city?

If the condo complex is sufficiently unattractive, few people will want to live there, and prices will fall to the point where buyers or renters accept the low price and the associated hassle. That's a market decision. If the condo complex is, let's imagine, 50% lower than market, then maybe people will accept the parking situation.

and there is no transit available anywhere near there

Then residents might try demanding it from the city government.

You may like this: https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193... book.

yboris · 2019-11-20 · Original thread
A must read classing for anyone interested in this topic:

The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup

https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193...

Totally about parking. https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193... is a great book. Its all about parking in some ways.
TheLostOne · 2018-02-27 · Original thread
As a German who never owned a car (have driver license 30+ years) and never will, hurray!

Next: Petrol cars please.

Costs for cities would decrease a lot [1], room for bicycles would increase, noise would drop to a level which can't believed, ambulances would be adjusted to walking persons instead of loud cars with their stereos on and air would be wonderful.

[1] https://www.amazon.de/High-Cost-Free-Parking/dp/193236496X

jseliger · 2018-02-23 · Original thread
File under "good news:" https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193... . Even Ace Parking is likely implicitly subsidized by zoning codes.
davidw · 2017-07-13 · Original thread
There was some of that where I lived in Italy, very little in Austria, and it was all much better than having vast, empty parking lots sitting there while house prices climb and climb.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.0492073,-121.3266077,3a,75y,...

Is a pretty common sight in the US. What a colossal waste of land!

Here's the book everyone cites on the issue:

https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193...

jseliger · 2017-05-16 · Original thread
There was no parking garage for the new bars and restaurants, so all visitors simply parked in the residents' neighborhoods

This is a solved problem: Charge for parking and the shortage goes away. Meter technology is decades old and well understood. https://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/193...

davidw · 2017-01-11 · Original thread
I'm not a 'markets solve all problems' guy. There are plenty of good regulations and plenty of places where markets don't seem to work. I'd be happy to tell you about how single payer health care works in Italy - better than the mess we have here in the US.

That said, I think housing and cities are overregulated in the US.

Those op-eds point out a lot of issues that you can study further and find that mostly, the cause is zoning and regulation of housing/land use. They also cite other sources.

Here's a book, talking just about parking:

http://amzn.to/2jvfxpJ - Donald Shoup's "The High Cost of Free Parking".

Here are some books about zoning and regulation:

Ryan Avent's "The Gated City": http://amzn.to/2jv3dpk

Bill Fischel's Zoning Rules!: http://amzn.to/2j62fTw - dry and very, very thorough.

davidw · 2017-01-11 · Original thread
I'm not a 'markets solve all problems' guy. There are plenty of good regulations and plenty of places where markets don't seem to work. I'd be happy to tell you about how single payer health care works in Italy - better than the mess we have here in the US.

That said, I think housing and cities are overregulated in the US.

Those op-eds point out a lot of issues that you can study further and find that mostly, the cause is zoning and regulation of housing/land use. They also cite other sources.

Here's a book, talking just about parking:

http://amzn.to/2jvfxpJ - Donald Shoup's "The High Cost of Free Parking".

Here are some books about zoning and regulation:

Ryan Avent's "The Gated City": http://amzn.to/2jv3dpk

Bill Fischel's Zoning Rules!: http://amzn.to/2j62fTw - dry and very, very thorough.

davidw · 2016-10-05 · Original thread
> There needs to be some forethought into how the new residents are going to get into and out of the city

Build your city in a grid, and adapt. 150 years ago, that forethought would have created good infrastructure for horses. Now, that might not be so much of a concern. As much as possible, people should be free to choose. See also: The High Cost of Free Parking: http://amzn.to/2dRbceN

jseliger · 2016-05-24 · Original thread
The High Cost of Free Parking (http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/1932...) is mandatory reading for anyone wondering about why the rent is too damn high.
akgerber · 2016-02-08 · Original thread
Parking is massively subsidized in the United States (read 750 pages about it! http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1...) and drivers only get tickets because they habitually violate tons of laws (I've never gotten a ticket in my 12 years of licensure).
jseliger · 2016-01-14 · Original thread
Why doesn't the fed just use higher taxes on gas to disincentivize gas guzzlers, and let the market take care of the rest?

Pigouvian taxes on high-carbon fuels are ridiculously unpopular. The median voter (http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Rational-Voter-Democracies-Polici...) does not perceive the TCO of cars, the fuel supply chain, and parking spaces (http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/1932...). So CAFE standards and other kinda crappy, second- and third-best workarounds get used instead.

MBlume · 2015-10-13 · Original thread
I get where you're coming from. Police departments enforcing the rules not to better the community they serve but to bring in money to pay their salaries. It pisses me off too. The thing is, free parking fucks up cities[0][1]. It makes driving seem like a better idea than it is. It encourages sprawl. We need ways for people to pay for the space their cars occupy, and that means we need ways to punish people who take that space and don't pay. And, yeah, that means we need parking tickets.

[0] http://www.uctc.net/papers/351.pdf

[1] http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1...

jseliger · 2015-03-16 · Original thread
Gosh I hope we can figure this out in my lifetime.

Me too. BTW, The High Cost of Free Parking by Shoup is amazing on this issue (http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/1932...). Totally changed my perspective when I read it.

wpietri · 2014-07-04 · Original thread
Parking isn't undervalued. People just pay in time, not money. Better to say that it's inefficiently priced. Shoup's "The High Cost of Free Parking" is the bible on that: http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1...
apendleton · 2014-05-28 · Original thread
Assuming this is an actual rather than rhetorical question, I'd recommend Donald Shoup's The High Cost of Free Parking: http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1...
jseliger · 2014-03-27 · Original thread
Can you elaborate on how this helps people?

See Shoup, The High Cost of Free Parking: http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1... .

Parking is already very expensive in many urban areas and it's implicitly subsidized by zoning requirements. The true cost of parking is even higher.

Places built explicitly around parking (like Atlanta or Phoenix) end up paying high time costs in the form of driving.

There is no free lunch (or in this case, parking spot).

lancewiggs · 2013-09-01 · Original thread
I would think that contractors need to dig a deep hole to ensure the foundations of the building are secure - get into the bedrock, especially in earthquake zones. Whether the car parks are below or above ground is moot.

That said - The High Cost of Free Parking (1) and The Walkable City (2) are both excellent reads on the matter of parking and car parks. The second is the more readable.

(1) http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1... (2) http://www.amazon.com/Walkable-City-Downtown-Save-America/dp...

jseliger · 2013-06-17 · Original thread
Excellent point. For a larger discussion of this, see Shroup's The High Cost of Free Parking: http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Parking-Updated-Edition/dp/1...
saurik · 2012-12-18 · Original thread
... so because the attempt is futile, you are saying we should pretend he didn't say it, and interpret the rest of his article in that light?

FWIW, I have a friend in the planning division of the city I live in, and just a few days ago we were having a discussion about the issues with parking.

http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking-Updated/dp/1932...

People certainly can and do make arguments that people should demand to pay for parking, as to do anything else causes even worse problems.

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