Shifting the Balance

Two articles that are on my mind this week:

Parking has eaten American cities by Richard Florida

and

Is Wheaton Ready for an Arts Center? A Woonerf? by Danielle E. Gaines

Both articles have a common underlying theme even though they address different topics. How do communities which have been built primarily around the needs of automobiles wrest themselves free of the tyranny of said automobiles?  This is definitely worth considering as we move forward in Downtown development and revitalization projects.

Is Columbia forever stuck being a place where you absolutely must have a car to function successfully? Are there meaningful ways to shift the balance and integrate more bicycle and pedestrian use, especially Downtown? Certainly this is on the mind of folks like
Open Steets Howard County and Bike HoCo .

But what about you? Do you wish that you had more opportunities to part once and then enjoy what Columbia has to offer? Do you want to see a better mix of cars, public transit, bikes, and pedestrians?

Do you just want to know what a woonerf is?

And one more question before I go: what might we do with the massive amount of land that we now have tied up in parking spaces if we didn’t have to adhere to that model?