Los Angeles County has 3.3 parking spots for every car, taking up 14 percent of its land

2015-12-02T13:33:00-05:00

Many urban planners think abundant parking goes hand in hand with LA's perpetual traffic woes, pollution, and lack of density. The perception that there will always be available parking leads drivers to neglect public transportation options, contributing to traffic, as well as to the increase in pollution caused by circling the block in search of a spot. Additionally, zoning codes obligate real estate developers to build a certain number of spaces with every project

More on the problematics of plentiful parking:

UCLA professor and "parking guru" Donald Shoup to retire

2015-03-31T17:40:00-04:00

After 41 years of teaching at UCLA, Donald Shoup, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, will retire on June 30. [...] Shoup is widely known as the “parking guru” whose ideas on parking policies have been implemented in cities around the world. His influential book, "The High Cost of Free Parking" ... has led a growing number of cities to adapt new policies for parking requirements and to charge fair market prices for curb parking.

Parking is a gigantic factor in determining how cities in the U.S. look and function, and no one knows that better than Donald Shoup. Any parking study worth its salt is indebted to Shoup's research.

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Los Angeles County has 3.3 parking spots for every car, taking up 14 percent of its land

UCLA professor and "parking guru" Donald Shoup to retire