We tend to think that when there isn’t any parking then we should designate some land for a parking lot. Sounds good and many on the pro-parking side link parking with business development. The concept is that people come from away to here and bring money. Not so fast others say, most business is local and comes on foot. Cars usually only carry one person and take a lot of space. in some cases people do come from away but it’s only part of their route, they park and then carry on using transit. That’s zero local business and the burden on the neighbourhood of providing parking.
But it’s not so simple. A parking lot has zero density and adds nothing to street level animation. They destroy walkability as they extend the distance between you and your destination while adding nothing along the way of interest.
This video and article provide a counter point of view to consider about what happens when parking takes priority
Also for every parking spot consider they have to drive to and from there. Provide lots of parking equals inviting lots of traffic. Lots of traffic demand lots of parking and there is the downward spiral.
