Editors’ Letter: We’re Talking About Parking

Considering the theme of this issue, you might wonder, “Why parking?”   
True story: It started with someone on the CONTEXT board complaining about a parking ticket. What followed was some chatter about where the money goes and a subsequent discussion on how parking requirements shape our cities.  

In researching parking as a topic, we started to think critically about the influence it has on us as designers and how that impacts urban dwellers. We get off to a strong start with a book review of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar. The review summarizes the book’s framing of the history of parking, details what we have lost as a result of expectations and requirements, and offers some interesting solutions.  

What follows is a Q&A with two City of Philadelphia officials — they talk about some exciting initiatives being implemented locally in the realms of parking, cycling, and EV charging.  

Next, we take a fun look at the future of driving by taking on autonomous vehicles, wireless EV charging, green hydrogen fuel, and architectural planning for this George Jetson reality.  

Then we come back to reality with a feature on future-proofing parking garages. Will there really be a time when parking garages aren’t needed? Is it worth the cost to plan for their future adaptive reuse? 

We conclude with images from Park(ing) Days that perfectly sum up our changing attitudes towards outdoor space. As we start seeing drastic changes to transportation, it’s important to take back our streets and be at the table to envision the future.  

So, did we answer our initial question about what happens to the money from parking tickets?  

We did. But you’ll have to read on to find the answer. 

Julie Bush, ASLA 

Principal, Ground Reconsidered 

CONTEXT Editor 

Fauzia Sadiq Garcia, RA, LEED AP 

Associate Professor, Temple University 

Partner, Sadiq Garcia Design 

CONTEXT Editor