How Parking Spaces Are Eating Our Cities Alive

[carpnter]

When the heat index is over 100, we have one of our afternoon severe thunderstorms, or even when we have those rare days when it is below freezing in the morning, waiting for public transit is not enjoyable.  It is also tough being tied to a schedule having to try to get done so you can go catch a bus.  Here in Jacksonville, there is too much suburban area for public transit to be particularly great.  If I rode the bus I couldn't stop by the store in the evening when we were out of milk simply because the store is too far from my house, and I live in Old Arlington. 
A car is a convenience and it does give you additional freedom to do things like go to the doctor in the middle of the day, stop by the store on the way home, or even leave work to pick up a sick child from school.

[Gamblor]

^^ It doesn't have to be either/or. Reality both have pros and cons, but a proper combination in an "and" solution would strike a good balance, opening up the diverse things this city has to offer in a way that brings this spread out community closer together.

[finehoe]

It doesn't have to be either/or.

Exactly.

[nd8406]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but why doesn't everyone just move away? To like, San Francisco, or Seattle, or just some place that doesn't suffer from vapid, banal, visionless local leadership? Yeah, places with 'nice things' have the price of admission to go with them, but if its in anybody's means and interest to, then why not relocate?

I mostly lurk here and constantly see the same issues raised that my friends and neighbors gripe about (many of whom have moved away). My question isn't meant to be confrontational - indeed, I too feel that the solution to this city is no solution and will be packing my bags as soon as my lease is up. It's just bizarre to me to see and hear this from every angle - between here, /r/Jacksonville and a lot of anecdotal firsthand data.

In just the past year, 2/3 of my apartment building in Riverside has turned over to people moving to far-flung places like Denver, Boston, Portland, etc. And it's always the same answer: Jacksonville is a walking corpse of a city. As though it's toxic. That attitude is a major drag on people that actually like it here, and I count myself as somebody who really liked it here for awhile. But we spend so much time wishing for this or that, while the place crumbles.  It's depressing. But you know what? Everyone I know who's moved seems to be all the happier for it. Maybe the discussion needs to be about an exit strategy...

[nd8406]

And to the guy that said automobiles represent freedom : really? So traffic, insurance, gas prices (that dictate whether you can even afford to drive), tolls, fees represent freedom then? If that's the price of freedom, no thank you.

[JaxArchitect]

Quote from Urban Planner Jeff Speck ".....the automobile has been given free rein to distort American cities and lives. Long gone are the days when automobiles expanded possibility and choice for the majority of Americans. Now, thanks to its ever-increasing demands for space, speed, and time, the car has reshaped American landscape and lifestyles around its own needs. It is an instrument of freedom that has enslaved us."
"...Since the 1970s, the number of roads in America has roughly doubled, which has led to a corresponding increase in the amount of money that the average American spends on transportation, from 10% to 20% of all income earned. Remarkably, the typical poor American family spends 40 percent of its income on transportation—considerably more than on housing."  There's no way to justify this as a sustainable trend.

No one would expect to go back to the days without interstates or eliminate cars altogether, however, a reasonable person would conclude that we have to invest more wisely moving forward by giving people more options (and freedom) by putting more emphasis on public transportation, thereby lessening the burden of personal time and money that has been created by our over-reliance on automobiles and roads.

For more info, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wai4ub90stQ