One of APA's most popular and influential books is finally in PAPE, with a new preface from the author on how thinking about parking has changed since this book was first published. In this no-holds-barred treatise, Shoup argues that free parking has contributed to auto dependence, rapid urban sprawl, extravagant energy use, and a host of other problems. Planners mandate free parking to alleviate congestion but end up distorting transportation choices, debasing urban design, damaging the economy, and degrading the environment. Ubiquitous free parking helps explain why our cities sprawl on a scale fit more for cars than for people, and why American motor vehicles now consume one-eighth of the world's total oil production. But it doesn't have to be this way. Shoup proposes new ways for cities to regulate parking - namely, charge fair market prices for curb parking, use the resulting revenue to pay for services in the neighborhoods that generate it, and remove zoning requirements for off-street parking. Such measures, according to the Yale-trained economist and UCLA planning professor, will make parking easier and driving less necessary. Join the swelling ranks of Shoupistas by picking up this book today. You'll never look at a parking spot the same way again.
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Donald Shoup is like Jane Jacobs. He starts by exposing the blind spot of a generation and then marshals a new generation of urbanists to make things right. Now that The High Cost of Free Parking is in paperback, I look forward to replacing all the dog-eared copies that have gone missing from our office library.
-Paul Steely White, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives
-Paul Steely White, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives
About the Author
"Donald Shoup is a professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a doctorate in economics from Yale and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners."
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58 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a detailed analysis of parking problems and their solution. Shoup zeroes in on the reason for such problems: we assume that parking should be free. Shoup points out that if we decided that gasoline should be free, the result we would expect would be obvious: people would drive too much, shortages of gasoline would develop, fights would break out over scarce gas, and governments would go broke trying to pay for it all. Shoup shows that parking is no different. Providing free parking leads to overuse, shortages, and conflicts over parking. Cash-strapped local governments and neighborhoods lose out, too. Free parking is like a fertility drug for cars. Many people don't realize how much of the high price of housing is due to requirements by local governments that a certain number of parking spaces must be provided. These costs are paid by everyone, including those who don't own a car.
I agree with Shoup that free parking is the great blind spot of American local politics. I recall vividly a couple of years ago I was attending a church service when it was suddenly interrupted by a person from the neighborhood, screaming that churchgoers had used all the parking spaces in front of his house AGAIN. I could understand why he was upset, because Sunday mornings did cause a serious parking shortage in the streets around the church. Shoup shows how to solve such difficulties: instead of putting in burdensome regulations about who can park where and when, just charge the market price for parking spaces, and make sure most or all of the money goes to the local neighborhood for improved public services. A high price for parking spaces on Sunday would have led churchgoers to find other options, like walking or carpooling. The church's neighbors would benefit from the money, and anyone who really needed a parking space would be able to find one, including on Sunday mornings.
As Shoup admits, nobody likes having to pay for a parking space. But which would you prefer: parking free, or spending a couple of bucks a day for parking and being able to afford to live 10 or 15 miles closer to work? Parking lots are not only ugly, they also consume vast amounts of land, much of which could be put to better uses. One of the great parts of the book is that Shoup discusses exactly how to go about developing political support for putting in parking meters and other methods of paying for parking. Parking technology has come a long way in recent decades, so that payment doesn't have to be inconvenient. Businesses are often afraid that parking meters will drive away customers. Shoup shows that isn't so, and provides several case studies of business districts and neighborhoods that have started charging for parking. What these places find is that their business actually increases, because people no longer have to waste time cruising the neighborhood looking for a parking space. Local governments' tax revenues increase, because valuable land is being used for revenue-producing activities instead of wasted on excess parking lots. Removing parking requirements also makes it much easier to renovate old buildings, which revitalizes neighborhoods.
I was stunned to find out that in some neighborhoods up to 90% of the traffic has been found to be people cruising around looking for a place to park. Shoup shows how charging the right price for parking according to local demand can get rid of this problem. Bus service benefits, too, because the buses don't have to sit in traffic jams and can arrive at their stops on time.
The book does get a little too academic for general readers in spots. There are equations in a few of the chapters. However, the book is too good to let that stop you. Just skip the equations; they aren't necessary to understanding Shoup's points.
I wish I could send a copy of this book to every local government official within 20 miles of where I live. Maybe then the bus service would be better, and when I really needed a parking space I would be able to find one.
I agree with Shoup that free parking is the great blind spot of American local politics. I recall vividly a couple of years ago I was attending a church service when it was suddenly interrupted by a person from the neighborhood, screaming that churchgoers had used all the parking spaces in front of his house AGAIN. I could understand why he was upset, because Sunday mornings did cause a serious parking shortage in the streets around the church. Shoup shows how to solve such difficulties: instead of putting in burdensome regulations about who can park where and when, just charge the market price for parking spaces, and make sure most or all of the money goes to the local neighborhood for improved public services. A high price for parking spaces on Sunday would have led churchgoers to find other options, like walking or carpooling. The church's neighbors would benefit from the money, and anyone who really needed a parking space would be able to find one, including on Sunday mornings.
As Shoup admits, nobody likes having to pay for a parking space. But which would you prefer: parking free, or spending a couple of bucks a day for parking and being able to afford to live 10 or 15 miles closer to work? Parking lots are not only ugly, they also consume vast amounts of land, much of which could be put to better uses. One of the great parts of the book is that Shoup discusses exactly how to go about developing political support for putting in parking meters and other methods of paying for parking. Parking technology has come a long way in recent decades, so that payment doesn't have to be inconvenient. Businesses are often afraid that parking meters will drive away customers. Shoup shows that isn't so, and provides several case studies of business districts and neighborhoods that have started charging for parking. What these places find is that their business actually increases, because people no longer have to waste time cruising the neighborhood looking for a parking space. Local governments' tax revenues increase, because valuable land is being used for revenue-producing activities instead of wasted on excess parking lots. Removing parking requirements also makes it much easier to renovate old buildings, which revitalizes neighborhoods.
I was stunned to find out that in some neighborhoods up to 90% of the traffic has been found to be people cruising around looking for a place to park. Shoup shows how charging the right price for parking according to local demand can get rid of this problem. Bus service benefits, too, because the buses don't have to sit in traffic jams and can arrive at their stops on time.
The book does get a little too academic for general readers in spots. There are equations in a few of the chapters. However, the book is too good to let that stop you. Just skip the equations; they aren't necessary to understanding Shoup's points.
I wish I could send a copy of this book to every local government official within 20 miles of where I live. Maybe then the bus service would be better, and when I really needed a parking space I would be able to find one.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By Aaron Swartz
Format:Hardcover
Come on, I know what you're thinking. There's no way you'd want to read an 800-page book about parking, let alone pay $60 for it. That's what I thought too.
Amazingly, I was wrong. Shoup shows how the simple matter of providing some free parking kicks off a chain reaction that leads to disastrous effects. First there's just a little free parking space in front of your house. But then a store opens down the street and its customers start taking your spot. So you demand the store provide enough parking for its customers. Which means the store gets pushed back from the street by its huge new parking lot. Which means nobody wants to walk to it, so more people start driving. Which means it needs more parking and more roads and more traffic cops and more cruising for parking and more sprawl and more pollution and on and on.
Shoup provides a simple solution to this madness: performance parking. If you provided everyone with free ice cream, you'd always have lines around the block. You'd go bankrupt from trying to make sure you always had enough supplies. You'd reorient your whole economy around ice cream. But luckily, we don't do that. We charge the market rate for ice cream. Shoup's simple suggestion: do the same for parking. Install parking meters that talk to each other and figure out how much parking is available and automatically adjust the price to ensure that 15% of the spots are always free. Imagine: no more looking for parking, a parking space always available.
Shoup has a political plan for getting there as well, involving playing one neighborhood off another. But I've given enough away already; perhaps you should just read the book.
Amazingly, I was wrong. Shoup shows how the simple matter of providing some free parking kicks off a chain reaction that leads to disastrous effects. First there's just a little free parking space in front of your house. But then a store opens down the street and its customers start taking your spot. So you demand the store provide enough parking for its customers. Which means the store gets pushed back from the street by its huge new parking lot. Which means nobody wants to walk to it, so more people start driving. Which means it needs more parking and more roads and more traffic cops and more cruising for parking and more sprawl and more pollution and on and on.
Shoup provides a simple solution to this madness: performance parking. If you provided everyone with free ice cream, you'd always have lines around the block. You'd go bankrupt from trying to make sure you always had enough supplies. You'd reorient your whole economy around ice cream. But luckily, we don't do that. We charge the market rate for ice cream. Shoup's simple suggestion: do the same for parking. Install parking meters that talk to each other and figure out how much parking is available and automatically adjust the price to ensure that 15% of the spots are always free. Imagine: no more looking for parking, a parking space always available.
Shoup has a political plan for getting there as well, involving playing one neighborhood off another. But I've given enough away already; perhaps you should just read the book.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Tom Cat
Format:Hardcover
In 100 years, people will look back on this book and realize its value. For now, though, it's far too rational to be of much practical use to planners, engineers or politicians. For anyone who ever imagined that parking requirements were established in accordance with scientific criteria, The High Cost of Free Parking should disabuse them of that notion permanently. Shoup recognizes all too well that parking requirements are imposed merely as a knee-jerk reaction to public fears rather than as a practicable solution to an actual problem. His solutions, though well intended, will undoubtedly fall on deaf ears in most instances--until the price of gas is at $30 per gallon and suddenly there are no cars to fill those free parking lots anymore.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but ponderous
I bought this book on the recommendation of the blogger Matthew Yglesias. I agree that it's an important text in understanding economic externalities. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Dr Christopher Mason
5.0 out of 5 stars
The title tells it all (almost)
Anyone interested in city planning, zoning policies and the future of transportation will enjoy this book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Montrosian
4.0 out of 5 stars
Book changed my perspective on planning and engineering
I'm an Urban Planning student. This book helped me better understand the intersection of engineering and planning, and how to navigate the tricky field of finding out what is best... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Chelsea Bakaitis
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic book that every American should read
Donald Shoup's master work explains the cause of many of America's problems - free parking. He very clearly outlines the history of the issue and offers a three-pronged solution. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Joe Melaragno
5.0 out of 5 stars
All Great
Top quality, fast delivery, great price. It is amazing how convenient it is to buy such worthwhile books, and, unlike a library book, you can keep these purchases for future... Read more
Published 4 months ago by a
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book!
In this revelatory, revolutionary book, UCLA professor Donald Shoup persuasively explains why almost everything we are told about parking either by professional planning experts or... Read more
Published on September 7, 2010 by Jon Corelis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Makes you stop to think about stopped cars
As a formerly employed land planner, it was not uncommon to wade through page after page of municipal zoning codes specifying nothing but parking requirements just to determine all... Read more
Published on October 13, 2009 by Frank
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended for anyone involved in Real Estate, Land Use...
I strongly recommend any students in Planning, Architect, Real Estate or Political Science to read all or part of the book. This book should be a required reading for the majors. Read more
Published on July 30, 2009 by J. Lower
4.0 out of 5 stars
The End of Free Parking
The author makes many good arguments against providing free parking for motorists. The basic premise is that everyone pays for the parking anyway - just not directly. Read more
Published on December 6, 2008 by C. Peters
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reminded me of how economics can be profoundly pro-social
You have to be willing to wade through a few equations to enjoy this book but if you care about cities, economics, or the environment, this impassioned (in its academic way) plea... Read more
Published on January 12, 2008 by Christopher Morgan
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