Al Jazeera America Talks Parking Craters With Streetsblog

The term “parking crater” made its cable news debut last week, when I was invited to appear on Al Jazeera America’s “Real Money with Ali Velshi.” Here’s the segment that aired on the show.

Velshi wanted to discuss recent research out of the University of Connecticut showing how too much parking harms a city’s tax base. If Al Jazeera, owned by the Qatari royal family, can get serious about parking policy, then maybe there’s hope for American news outlets funded by car company advertising. We’re waiting for the call from Anderson Cooper.

  • Andy B from Jersey

    Wow Angie! You ARE Streetsblog lately!

  • Justin

    Super SPOT ON!! 😀

  • Kevin Love

    Excellent job, Angie!

    In my opinion, one of the most interesting comments was made by Mr. Velshi at around the 1:15 mark. He said:

    “I would have assumed that the market deals with that. I come from Toronto, which used to have a lot of surface parking lots, and now they are all condominiums… I assume that when that land becomes more valuable (then) becoming a condominium or an office building or housing that the market sort of dictates that it becomes that. But you’re saying that there is a public policy issue here.”

    Kevin’s comment:

    Poor Mr. Velshi. He comes from capitalistic Canada, where people believe in free enterprise and free markets. Now he has to get used to the USA, the land of government socialism for car drivers.

  • Coffee Partier

    Novel idea, tax parking spaces to pay for cycling and redestrian friendly infrastructure.

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