Last year, Transportation Alternatives released two groundbreaking reports–”Suburbanizing the City” and “Guaranteed Parking, Guaranteed Driving“–linking New York City zoning policy and increased traffic.  To many people’s surprise, these reports revealed how the City continues to follow 1960s-era policy requiring buildings in the 5 boroughs and in upper Manhattan to include a certain number of parking spaces per apartment. Dr. Rachel Weinberger, the study’s author, estimated that if the City continues on this path, it can expect 170,000 new cars and 1 billion more miles of driving per year by 2030.

So my question is: could park(ing) requirements have the reverse effect? Could required places for people on neighborhood streets lead to stronger neighborhoods, healthier people and more beautiful streets by 2030? If Park(ing) Day 2007 and 2008 are any indication of what places for people can do, the answer is surely ‘yes’.

If the City were to adopt new park(ing) requirements, Portland, Oregon’s City Repair might provide us a good model for creating these new places for people. City Repair, an organization based in Portland, Oregon, helps neighbors come together to design and build public amenities on local streets. These neighborhood additions might include a new bench, a tea station, a traffic calming intersection painting or just a useful bulletin board.  The structures are built with natural materials and are as unique as the neighborhoods they’re built in.