Parking Spots

2009-11-01 10:37:16 -0800
Originally uploaded by shotsy

Parking, so much to say. Let's start with size.

• For a typical parking space, surface or structured, a spot can range between 320 sf to 430 sf gross per space, including aisles, corners, columns, landscaping, disabled, mechanical, ticketing, and more.
• 430 sf/space is for surface parking (no structure) and odd shaped sites with generous landscaping. This maximum size works out to about 100 spaces per acre (43,560 sf/acre / 430 sf/space = about 100 spaces/acre).
• 320 sf/space is for a large, efficient parking structure with clear span, double loaded, 90 degree parking, and parking around the entire perimeter.
  
• A relatively good number for standalone parking structure is 350 sf/space.
  
• For surface parking and parking structure, with building(s) above a useful size to estimate with is 400 sf/space.
• These parking spaces assume that the spaces are typically 90 degrees, 9 feet wide by 18 feet long with aisles of at least 24 feet wide. That would make a double loaded 90 degree parking bay 60 feet wide clear.
  

Parking Management - Share Parking

Situation: The district I am studying is currently self-parked. Each parcel provides its own parking, which was required by a parking ratio and perhaps exceeded with perceived need. Businesses are struggling (due to many factors) and the ease of parking is critical in many business owners' eyes to future success.

Problem: Parking is inefficiently provided throughout the project area. Surface parking lots are far more abundant than any other type of open space and seem to take over developable space. Most visitors seem to park and visit a single establishment rather than the district as a whole.

Solution?: Managed, shared parking districts. In these districts parking lots are shared, land is more efficiently used. Shared parking districts can decrease car trips, the number of parking spaces demanded, and promote walking.

Issue: How does a city write policy or encourage private land owners to share land for parking? What about issues of liability? What about issues of land acquisition? How can a city implement shared parking where private parking has dominated?

Parking Day 2008

Parking Day 2008
Originally uploaded by gojanelin

Today is PARKING DAY! It is a day where we pay for "parking" and put a park there instead of a car. Social/green space takes over the automobile realm... OK, so this was our entry last year, it seems that our meter ran out on us this year. But, it is worth revisiting our park idea: we reused our office materials to construct our park. We used boxes for park benches and made a tree out of our discarded business cards.

Here is an interesting coverage of 2009 on Streetsblog and Streetfilms both a part of the Livable Streets Initiative.

Stormwater Management at Target

Stormwater Management at Target
Originally uploaded by gojanelin

There are swales at the Albany Target that indicate deeper thought about stormwater managment (than typical big boxes). The site itself is next to two creeks and not far from the SF Bay. A great Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks was put together by the Oakland Museum of California. The swales make the parking lot look a little nicer, though it's still vast. John King thought this Target was a worthy landmark in the Bay Area.