Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Downtown Atlanta has 93,000 parking spaces, according to a new report. Photo: ATL Urbanist
Downtown Atlanta has 93,000 parking spaces, according to a new report. Photo: ATL Urbanist
false

A group of Atlanta business leaders recently commissioned a report examining the parking situation in the city's downtown [PDF]. Aimed at "facilitating future growth in a sustainable manner," the report found that there are 93,000 parking spaces in Atlanta's central business district.

Darin at ATL Urbanist says the document has some good ideas -- most notably the mention of car sharing as a way to reduce the need for parking -- but it still misses the mark in many ways:

Obviously, the set of documents from the parking assessment has the sole aim of improving the experience of parking for drivers. In its place, that’s a valid pursuit (though it still doesn’t excuse the bizarre “A person’s first and last impression of a city begins and ends with parking”).

My complaint is that the assessment is happening in a silo -- it doesn’t seem to be tied to an overall plan that includes sensible goals for downtown such as:

  • Encouraging new housing stock that accommodates use of alternative transportation
  • Reducing the truly soul-crushing amount of land devoted to parking here
  • Establishing the primary importance of improving the experience of walking, cycling and using transit here

Goals such as these should be front and center in the thoughts and actions of city leaders, taking precedence over concerns about improved parking and strongly informing any initiative regarding automobile use. That they are not present in the recommendations of this report is telling.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Reinventing Parking evaluates Seattle's low-tech efforts to manage street parking prices. Rights of Way reports that Portland, Maine, finally has a sidewalk to its train and bus terminal. And Rails-to-Trails looks at what the short-term federal transportation funding extension means for biking and walking.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Think Globally, Act Locally

In a world where the federal government is aligned against all your goals, what else can you do?

February 5, 2025

Study: You’re Not That Much Safer In a 4,000+ Pound Car

For decades, American car buyers believed that bigger = safer. A new study finds that rule appears to have hit a ceiling.

February 5, 2025

Op-Ed: Reviewing America’s First (and Last?) Federal ‘Reconnecting Communities’ Pilot

The Biden administration exhausted the funds of the first-in-the-nation Reconnecting Communities program before they left office. But how did they spend the money — and what can we learn about how to do better next time, if advocates ever get another bite at the apple?

February 5, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Are a Sanctuary

The Trump administration's latest threat would withhold funding from many big-city transit agencies and transportation projects in some blue states with "sanctuary" policies on immigration.

February 4, 2025

This Automaker Is Attacking Sustainable Transportation Even More Than You Think

The world's largest automaker has been ramping up spending to put climate change deniers in Congress, and crushing support for all kinds of sustainable modes in the process.

February 4, 2025
See all posts