Many cities like New York have reallocated space formerly reserved for moving and storing cars to help restaurants and stores weather the pandemic, but as more residents rely on cars for the same reason, the dynamic threatens to boil over.
Doree Lewak found some New Yorkers upset about the conversion of parking spots to outdoor dining areas—a common signifier of life during the pandemic in cities of all sizes and geographic location around the country.
According to Lewak, the tension is the result of two conflicting forces:
According to the Department of Transportation’s Brian Zumhagen, the expansion of outdoor dining has eliminated as many as 10,000 parking spots on commercial corridors. At the same time, COVID-19 lockdown has spurred more New Yorkers to purchase their first cars.
Lewak's star witness is Upper West Side resident Melanie Wesslock, who says parking hassle is at an all-time high in Manhattan.
The Upper West Side married mom of one grudgingly abandons her street space each weekday morning to drive her son to school on the Lower East Side rather than risk the high school freshman catching the coronavirus on public transit.
“On average, it takes four hours per day due to limited alternate parking rules and curbside dining taking spots,” the photographer griped to The Post from the front seat of her red Mini Countryman. “I think the only conversations we have now are about parking. It’s dominating my life right now.”
While car owners find a media outlet to sympathize with their plight, the city has taken recent steps to ensure that business and social activity will continue to take precedence over car-centric uses. The city of New York made its outdoor dining program, a long shot not that long ago, permanent in the city.
The news about parking conflicts arising in response to New York's outdoor dining program stands in contrast to reports from around the country about a surprising lack of parking controversies as outdoor dining programs have proliferated around the country during the pandemic. Even where outdoor dining has won in the court of public opinion, the threat of dangerous drivers still hangs over the scene in these new commercial and social spaces.
FULL STORY: NYC street parking hell is worse than ever due to COVID-19 drama
New York Outdoor Dining, Open Streets Programs Now Permanent
New York City will now be measurably less car-centric for the indefinite future.
Strange Days: Outrage Absent as Businesses Reclaim Parking Spots
It took a pandemic, but the worldwide effort to move restaurant and retail businesses outside, at the expense of parking, is proving far less controversial than it would have before the coronavirus swept the globe.
Opinion: Keep Outdoor Dining Without Thwarting Creativity
While New York City's effort to make its outdoor dining program permanent is a welcome reimagining of public space, some worry that regulations will reduce design diversity and increase costs for small restauranteurs.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service