The High Cost of Free Parking, Updated Edition cover art

The High Cost of Free Parking, Updated Edition

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About this listen

In this no-holds-barred treatise, Donald Shoup argues that free parking has contributed to auto dependence, rapid urban sprawl, extravagant energy use, and a host of other problems. Planners mandate free parking to alleviate congestion but end up distorting transportation choices, debasing urban design, damaging the economy, and degrading the environment.

Ubiquitous free parking helps explain why our cities sprawl on a scale fit more for cars than for people, and why American motor vehicles now consume one-eighth of the world's total oil production. But it doesn't have to be this way. Shoup proposes new ways for cities to regulate parking - namely, charge fair market prices for curb parking, use the resulting revenue to pay for services in the neighborhoods that generate it, and remove zoning requirements for off-street parking. Such measures, according to the Yale-trained economist and UCLA planning professor, will make parking easier and driving less necessary.

Join the swelling ranks of Shoupistas by picking up this book today. You'll never look at a parking spot the same way again.

©2011 Taylor & Francis (P)2018 Gildan Media Architecture Economics Engineering Social Sciences Sociology Urban Capitalism Taxation Sustainability Urban Planning
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Good book. Unfortunately I found the narration very nasal and it was a chore to listen to

Very good

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A fascinating book. Although apparently focussed on two very narrow issues relating to parking - ie planning requirements for off street parking and charging for kerb parking - the author makes a persuasive case that modest policy changes can produce big benefits for cities and people.

A compelling hypothesis

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Well I'm convinced. Donald Shoup proposes to get rid of parking minimums off street. This would help de-couple the price of goods and services in adjacent businesses from the real cost to build and maintain the 'free' parking nearby. And allow re-development into new (and needed) business that cannot locate there because of the make-believe world of use-based parking minimums. Then charge for the on-street parking at an adjustable level that keeps some parking available throughout the day. Importantly, he suggests giving most of the money to the districts it's raised in to let them improve their local area, rather than disappearing into the general funds of whole cities or higher levels of government.

And several other points, lots of studies, stories and examples... it is a VERY long book, and chapter summaries especially end up repeating itself a lot. It could do with an aggressively shorter version that was more digestible. I listened to it at about 1.5x most of the time. An important contribution non the less.

Thorough but repetitive

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