More great stories that I don’t have time do justice to…
Curb Appeal
D.C. Streets Blog
Summary: Alan Durning tackles the political challenge of how to persuade people to embrace performance (market-based) pricing for parking on streets where they are accustomed to parking for free. Plow the revenue from variable-price parking meters into a highly geographically targeted fund that makes neighborhood improvements like sidewalk repairs, tree plantings, bike racks or — I’m not making this one up — sculpted trash-can holders that yield tangible benefits.
Money quote: “Territoriality is the root of the problem in parking politics. Greed — activated through parking benefit districts or tradable parking permits — is the core of the solution. By offering a steady stream of money to neighborhoods, they invert the usual politics of parking. Curb parking becomes less an entitlement and more a business opportunity. Visitors become not interlopers but customers. And off-street parking quotas become no longer saviors but competitors.”
Neighborhoods First: A Low Risk, High Return Strategy for a Better Brainerd
Strong Towns blog
Summary: Chuck Marohn has long advocated making low-risk, high-return investments that make small but tangible neighborhood improvements. In this report, he uses his home town of Brainerd, Minn., to show how investments of $5,000 or less in crosswalks, bike lanes and trees (or tree trimming) can improve parks and streetscapes and boost property values.
Money quote: “Small, incremental steps throughout all neighborhoods over a sustained period of time is how a city becomes prosperous. It is truly slow and steady that wins the race.”
— JAB
