It's a neat graphic, but I am evidently too slow to grasp the point. Which is better, parking in front or in back? Without having thought deeply about the subject, I lean toward centralized parking shared by multiple buildings. That approach generates foot traffic, and perhaps the seeds of some actual community, rather than anonymous individuals each entering and leaving separate buildings.
The image of a parking lot in front reminds me of when my family moved from McLean, VA (a suburb of Washington, DC), to the northern suburbs of Detroit. In Virginia, there were paths and sidewalks everywhere. I could get pretty much wherever I wanted by bicycle, only rarely needing to ask my parents for a ride. Shortly after moving into our Michigan house, I tried to ride my bike to the mall, only two miles from where we lived. I found that the series of unconnected parking lots along the main road made bicycling impractical and perhaps impossible. After twice climbing a fence and reaching back over to grab my bike, I was unwilling do to it a third time and finally gave up.
I think you actually got the point! In the burbs the most important thing is the car so it is right up front...whereas in the city the people are more important. This may be a simplification but it was my first thought upon seeing the graphic -- which I thought was great BTW......
3 comments:
It's a neat graphic, but I am evidently too slow to grasp the point. Which is better, parking in front or in back? Without having thought deeply about the subject, I lean toward centralized parking shared by multiple buildings. That approach generates foot traffic, and perhaps the seeds of some actual community, rather than anonymous individuals each entering and leaving separate buildings.
The image of a parking lot in front reminds me of when my family moved from McLean, VA (a suburb of Washington, DC), to the northern suburbs of Detroit. In Virginia, there were paths and sidewalks everywhere. I could get pretty much wherever I wanted by bicycle, only rarely needing to ask my parents for a ride. Shortly after moving into our Michigan house, I tried to ride my bike to the mall, only two miles from where we lived. I found that the series of unconnected parking lots along the main road made bicycling impractical and perhaps impossible. After twice climbing a fence and reaching back over to grab my bike, I was unwilling do to it a third time and finally gave up.
I think you actually got the point! In the burbs the most important thing is the car so it is right up front...whereas in the city the people are more important. This may be a simplification but it was my first thought upon seeing the graphic -- which I thought was great BTW......
The graphic's creator responds!
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