{"items": [{"author": "Richard", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652526050442", "anchor": "fb-652526050442", "service": "fb", "text": "Hey Jeff, don't most driveways accommodate more than one car?", "timestamp": "1395410933"}, {"author": "Ken", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652528490552", "anchor": "fb-652528490552", "service": "fb", "text": "I agree with this logic, including the parenthetical exception at the end. My street is one that has driveways for every house. Combined with low traffic and a lot of families, the street becomes an open, safe place for kids to play games, ride bikes, and the like.
Conversely, I once lived on a very narrow street that had no driveways. In the winter, the combination of snow and street parking made the street so narrow that emergency vehicles couldn't fit.", "timestamp": "1395411277"}, {"author": "Julia", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652529408712", "anchor": "fb-652529408712", "service": "fb", "text": "If you have a driveway and on-street parking, you can park one car in the driveway and then park the second car in front of your own driveway entrance, thereby giving you two spaces guaranteed.", "timestamp": "1395411553"}, {"author": "Jim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652529578372", "anchor": "fb-652529578372", "service": "fb", "text": "That would be better, but there's little point in fixing it now since it'll be moot in a decade (self-driving cars park themselves in multi-level garages) and it takes longer than that to change an architectural trend.", "timestamp": "1395411710"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652531005512", "anchor": "fb-652531005512", "service": "fb", "text": "I'm not sure this is always true -- there are some very narrow driveways in NYC that might not accommodate a medium or large car parallel parked in front of it. And there are lots of double-wide driveways (e.g. in front of warehouses and factories) that would definitely not parallel park two cars.
But in general the idea of permit parking for streets strongly appeals to me.", "timestamp": "1395413110"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652531160202", "anchor": "fb-652531160202", "service": "fb", "text": "Last place I lived in in Cambridge, two houses either side of the driveway. We could get four cars into the driveway in a snow emergency with only one car length taken up on the street.", "timestamp": "1395413247"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652531240042", "anchor": "fb-652531240042", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff Kaufman Have you been experiencing the same winter I have? A large number of on-street parking places have disappeared, and are only reappearing this week. Also, you had an assumption that I think is rarely true outside of hip urban areas, only one car. Any place that accommodates families will want two cars. Further, the driveway is often gateway to a garage, which significantly extends the life of cars. Without driveways, I suspect that snow emergencies that remove all cars from the streets would be nightmarish.", "timestamp": "1395413336"}, {"author": "Hassan", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/109686970531250960199", "anchor": "gp-1395414131556", "service": "gp", "text": "Well, the blurb isn't completely accurate. A standard driveway is only 10 feet wide, while a standard parallel parking spot is 20 feet long. So a driveway actually takes up only half the street space of a parked car. If every house on the street has a driveway, you can fit significantly more cars - which is important when a lot of buildings in Boston are multifamily.\u00a0\n
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\nA driveway also allows you to dodge certain parking restrictions - for instance, you can't park within ten feet of a hydrant or twenty feet of an intersection, but there is no issue with your driveway being within these restrictions. (I realize that many people simply disregard these laws anyway). It also provides parking that is viable 24/7/365, whereas a lot of street parking will have limitations for street cleaning or snow removal.\u00a0", "timestamp": 1395414131}, {"author": "Arthur", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652532397722", "anchor": "fb-652532397722", "service": "fb", "text": "Giving you the \"rights\" to a certain section of street doesn't actually stop people from parking there, and enforcing that right by calling for the car to be ticketed/towed involves expense and hassle.
Technically you can't actually stop people from parking right in your driveway and/or blocking off your driveway either but the social barrier to doing so seems to be a lot stronger than people's tendency to respect \"Permit Parking Only\" signs on the street.", "timestamp": "1395414170"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652533750012", "anchor": "fb-652533750012", "service": "fb", "text": "Arthur -- I think it depends on the expectation -- in some cities, permit parking is ubiquitous and people know to check for signs. In my experience this is true at least in both New Haven and Minneapolis. And it only takes a few $40 tickets or $200 trips to the tow pound for folks to learn what's up.", "timestamp": "1395415277"}, {"author": "Josh", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652534124262", "anchor": "fb-652534124262", "service": "fb", "text": "I feel like a driveway that only holds one car is pretty unusual. If nothing else, it also usually goes to a garage, where you could in theory park a second car. And driveways that you can park 2 - 4 cars in seem pretty common around these parts anyway.", "timestamp": "1395415658"}, {"author": "Chris", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/107571733464918568808", "anchor": "gp-1395416586648", "service": "gp", "text": "Re: permit parking, are there cities that do \"you and only you have the spot in front of your front door\" or is it always zone based?", "timestamp": 1395416586}, {"author": "Matt", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652539303882", "anchor": "fb-652539303882", "service": "fb", "text": "Parking requirements (yes, off-street parking is almost universally mandated by zoning codes) are a terrible idea. One of the huge subsidies to car ownership that nobody really thinks about http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/ </soapbox>", "timestamp": "1395419217"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1395421330172", "service": "gp", "text": "@Hassan\n\u00a0\"A standard driveway is only 10 feet wide, while a standard parallel parking spot is 20 feet long.\"\n
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\nPeople leave space around driveways because it would be hard to get out if people parked right up to the edge. \u00a0Looking at satellite views of parallel parked cars the gaps left for driveways measure only about a foot less than the ~18ft cars take:\u00a0\nhttp://www.jefftk.com/driveway-inefficiency-car-sized-hole.jpg", "timestamp": 1395421330}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1395421364531", "service": "gp", "text": "@Chris\n\u00a0\"you and only you have the spot in front of your front door\"?\n
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\nI haven't been able to find any that work like this, but let me know if you do!", "timestamp": 1395421364}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652543999472", "anchor": "fb-652543999472", "service": "fb", "text": "@Julia: \"park the second car in front of your own driveway entrance\"
I wonder if this risks a ticket?", "timestamp": "1395421452"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652544393682", "anchor": "fb-652544393682", "service": "fb", "text": "@Richard: \"don't most driveways accommodate more than one car?\"
Sure; driveways seem to start increasing available parking once you get to 2+ cars.", "timestamp": "1395421779"}, {"author": "Amelia", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652544807852", "anchor": "fb-652544807852", "service": "fb", "text": "Don't forget that the driveway guarantees parking to ppl who live on the street! It's such a pain to have to drive all around the neighborhood looking for legal parking when you FRICKING LIVE THERE", "timestamp": "1395422040"}, {"author": "Julia", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652545666132", "anchor": "fb-652545666132", "service": "fb", "text": "I think you only get a ticket if you post a sign or the city posts a sign saying \"do not block driveway - police take notice\"", "timestamp": "1395422495"}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652550840762", "anchor": "fb-652550840762", "service": "fb", "text": "I know that in Philadelphia if you park in front of a garage entrance (even if it your own) you can get a ticket. There is supposedly a process to get a permit - would be useful for my brother-in-law who has two cars and a one-car garage that opens onto the sidewalk.", "timestamp": "1395424405"}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652551364712", "anchor": "fb-652551364712", "service": "fb", "text": "A parking space is supposed to be 18 feet long (in garages). The driveway entrance doesn't have to be that wide. I'd think 12 feet would be ample.", "timestamp": "1395424557"}, {"author": "Jonathan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652567592192", "anchor": "fb-652567592192", "service": "fb", "text": "Optimize for multiple cars per house. If there really is only one car per house, suboptimal is good enough. So, driveways are good, being more efficient in the harder case.", "timestamp": "1395433331"}, {"author": "Will", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/115623320734956550423", "anchor": "gp-1395434043660", "service": "gp", "text": "Our city (Ames, IA) makes parking on one side of the street illegal so we don't get any space on the road in front of our house and if our neighbors across the street have their kids over, there's no parking within a few houses of us.", "timestamp": 1395434043}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1395435439164", "service": "gp", "text": "@Will\n\u00a0If a side of a street has driveways but no parking, then the inefficiency I'm observing doesn't apply to that side of the street.", "timestamp": 1395435439}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652571703952", "anchor": "fb-652571703952", "service": "fb", "text": "@John: \"A parking space is supposed to be 18 feet long (in garages). The driveway entrance doesn't have to be that wide. I'd think 12 feet would be ample.\"
Looking at satellite imagery it seems people leave a similar amount of space around driveways as they do around parked cars when parallel parking: http://www.jefftk.com/driveway-inefficiency-car-sized...", "timestamp": "1395435689"}, {"author": "Ira", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652573495362", "anchor": "fb-652573495362", "service": "fb", "text": "Living in Davis Sq, I'm constantly frustrated by how much land is wasted to accommodate parked cars (i.e. driveways). Especially since all these people are within walking distance to the RedLine and bus connections. Thanks for clarifying this even more.", "timestamp": "1395436719"}, {"author": "Brian", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652603659912", "anchor": "fb-652603659912", "service": "fb", "text": "Every neighborhood I have lived in had roughly a min of 40 meters road frontage. I fail to see how loosing a 40 meter by 2 meter section of yard to widen the street to park in is more efficient than a 2x4 meter driveway parking space. I am no traffic planner but the math on that reads like an Obama budget. The obvious solution here is to work on teleportation so the car won't be needed.", "timestamp": "1395455651"}, {"author": "Ira", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652605890442", "anchor": "fb-652605890442", "service": "fb", "text": "Brian > It really depends on the density of the place you're living. This conversation mostly applies to a a place like Cambridge, where the density is dozens of dwelling units per acre (Fairview is, what, less than 1 DU/acre?). So, my triple-decker has a 20m road frontage and 6 adult residents, so the math starts making a little more sense, perhaps. Jeff's diagrams begin to show this, as well.
Also, if faced with the option of driveways vs. on-street parking, there are many arguments for on-street parking as the more pedestrian-friendly choice. For instance, you don't have vehicles crossing paths as much where people walk, and the line of parked cars provides a visual/noise buffer against the traffic.
Also, we may not have teleporters, but we have mass transit, buses, rideshare (Uber and Lyft, it's free-marketish, you'd love it!), bicycles and bike-share, and walking, all of which diminish the need for cars. Granted, not immensely applicable to Fairview, NC, but I think it's presumed we're talking about urban areas.", "timestamp": "1395457157"}, {"author": "Brian", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652606599022", "anchor": "fb-652606599022", "service": "fb", "text": "The last 2 places I lived were in downtown Asheville streets were narrow one way no parking in street so that driveway concept becomes very efficient if you have a car. Most of the old residential districts around here are that way. Perfect for a bike unless you work 17 miles away.", "timestamp": "1395457649"}, {"author": "Ira", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/652525062422?comment_id=652607547122", "anchor": "fb-652607547122", "service": "fb", "text": "Fair enough, but still sounds like it might be significantly less dense than a Camberville neighborhood. I'm seeing that the average density of City of Asheville is about 3 DU/Ha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asheville,_North_Carolina), whereas City of Cambridge is 59 DU/Ha (http://densityatlas.org/measuring/). Specific numbers for downtown Asheville would be better, but they seem lacking.
That being said, I think we're touching on the point that there's no such thing as universal ideal street design, since it will always depend on things like density, mode share, weather, infrastructure standards, etc. What Jeff might be hinting at is a possible incremental change for our neighborhood, in New England, that acknowledges existing conditions and that might result in a net better outcome.", "timestamp": "1395458503"}]}