The parking lot at Hilltop Mall in Richmond, California. The United States has dedicated large parts of its cities and suburbs to car storage.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The parking lot at Hilltop Mall in Richmond, California. The United States has dedicated large parts of its cities and suburbs to car storage.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
No matter how you measure it, there is a lot of parking in the United States. According to some estimates there are as many as six parking spaces for each car. In other words, America devotes more square footage to car storage than to housing people.
Henry Grabar goes through how we got here, and what Americans sacrificed on the altar of parking. From affordable housing to walkable neighborhoods to countless hours spent wandering around the block, hunting for a free spot.
His new book is Jenna Witta: How Parking Explains the World.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s happening in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Connor Donevan with audio engineering by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
