07/22/2025
You want a thriving downtown? Focus on being a draw:
• Raise standards for building owners.
• Enforce codes.
• Beautify your streets.
• Create great public spaces.
• Make room for pedestrians, not just their vehicles.
• Invest in experiences, not asphalt.
And for the love of Jane Jacobs, stop listening to and building owners complain about parking. You know, the ones who don’t invest in their space, don’t have a marketing budget, don’t have a business plan and also park in front of their shop.
I’ve mostly stopped posting about parking. I figured I’d beaten that dead horse back to life, then to death again. I assumed anyone following me had heard enough about publicly subsidized car storage.
But, I was wrong. Again.
Recently, I shared a meme about parking and by the following day the comments section had turned into the Thunderdome. So let me say this as clearly as I can, parking isn’t the problem.
Actually. parking is the problem. Just not the one you think it is.
Parking is not what’s holding your downtown back. In fact, it’s a distraction from what really is, your lack of an attraction. That’s right. You don’t have a parking problem, you have an attraction problem.
Here’s the proof-
•Cities that add parking never see a revitalization boom.
•After new parking goes in, another excuse pops up, and more parking is suddenly “needed.”
•Events with big crowds? People always find a way, walk, bike, Uber, shuttle, whatever. They show up because there’s something worth showing up for.
And great businesses? They never complain about parking, because they’re a draw. They have what people want, goods, services, atmosphere. No one says, “I was going to eat at that incredible new restaurant, but the walk from my car was inconvenient.”
Need an analogy? I’ve got analogies
•Fast and Furious 9 would still have flopped even if the theater had more seats.
•The Pittsburgh Pirates won’t win more games if they add new rows.
• TGI Friday’s could add a hundred more tables, but the zesty onions popper nachos still won’t be any good.
Adding capacity doesn’t fix a bad product. It just gives you more empty space to manage.
The truth is, people are drawn to places that draw them. No one plans a trip to visit a parking lot. People go places to experience beauty, connection, culture, fun. And those things, those attractions, get sacrificed every time we tear down a building to make room for cars.
You want a thriving downtown? Focus on being a draw:
• Raise standards for building owners.
• Enforce codes.
• Beautify your streets.
• Create great public spaces.
• Make room for pedestrians, not just their vehicles.
• Invest in experiences, not asphalt.
And for the love of Jane Jacobs, stop listening to bad business and building owners complain about parking. You know, the ones who don’t invest in their space, don’t have a marketing budget, don’t have a business plan and also park in front of their shop.
A successful city, like a successful business, doesn’t complain about access, it builds something worth accessing.
So rest your fingers, brave keyboard warrior. Step away from the antique doll shop owner with a theory. Stop chasing more spaces and start creating places.
Because the great cities? The ones everyone flocks to? They don’t have parking problems. They have people problems, too many of them. Because they got the formula right:
Pretty streets + high standards + inviting spaces = no one cares where they parked.
