The Hidden Decision That Shaped the American City at Mid Century

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Most historic structures in most American cities wind up getting torn down because they cannot be put to new use without providing a sufficient amount of parking. Cities make a decision that every new or renovated building will have to include a certain amount of parking and how much parking should every building include. The result was 70 years of suburban building codes basically determining the shape of the urban environment. Everything built before the 1940s becomes obsolete, like technically obsolete as far as the code is concerned.

For decades, urban planners have blanketed our cities with the cheap and convenient car storage known as parking. They've swapped sidewalks for strip malls and bulldozed bright, inviting storefronts to make room for dark, urine-scented parking garages. In some downtowns, more land is now devoted to parking than buildings.

Parking profligacy has left us with cities that are polluted and hostile to pedestrians; they're also increasingly unaffordable because legally required parking can drive up the cost of residential construction by 25 percent.

In "Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World," journalist Henry Grabar dares to imagine a future in which we knock parking off its pedestal by enacting new laws, adopting new attitudes, and embracing new technologies (like e-bikes and autonomous cars) that make our cities greener, friendlier, safer, and more fun.