Comments on: Reduce Car Culture to Increase Access to Healthier Food

By: Less Parking = More Access to Healthy Food | livagreen

Less Parking = More Access to Healthy Food | livagreen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:56:34 +0000

[...] populated part of New Haven that is unwelcoming to pedestrians. Today, courtesy of member blog The City Fix, we’re taking another look at urban supermarket planning, specifically the issue of how to [...]

By: Marc

Marc — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:52:48 +0000

A quick history of Supermarket Flight.

By: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Less Parking, More Healthy Food

Streetsblog Los Angeles » Less Parking, More Healthy Food — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:29:19 +0000

By: Noah Kazis

Noah Kazis — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:28:12 +0000

Rick, thank you so much for the detailed comments. I’m really hoping to have residents and other local experts contributing with the perspectives that only they will have.

It seems I wasn’t quite clear enough in describing why I mentioned the Giant on Wisconsin. My point was not that that particular project should not have parking associated with it but rather that if that project is the best example that the Office of Planning can give for a supermarket with the parking requirement waived, it’s not doing what it needs to. That area, as you point out, isn’t one where a parking requirement is a problematic barrier to entry.

I would also just add that with regards to residential parking, “too much” is further than I was willing to go. The project did include more parking spots for the new residences it built than was legally necessary; whether this is too much parking is a much broader question.

The important point, though, is that in many neighborhoods, even this reduced amount of required parking can be too much for groceries looking to locate there.

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:52:31 +0000

You obviously need to check your facts. The Giant PUD is one mile from the closest Metro stop, so patrons will drive. As the DC Office of Planning noted in a recent study of a commercial district close to the Giant PUD, even where a site is well-served by bus lines but lacks a Metro station, there will be much more driving than in Metro-served locations. Moreover, umlike urban cores that wer both well-served by public transportation and have smaller supermarket models, the Giant PUD site will feature a outer-suburb sized “SuperCenter” (Giant’s marketing term) of nearly 60,000 s.f. (By contrast, the current store is 16,000 s.f.) The Trader Joes in DC’s West EndThis will be the largest such grocery store west of Rock Creek Park in DC. Unlike smaller stores where walkers or transit riders might carry home one or two bags of groceries, the SuperCenter’s business model is the big SUV-filling grocery order. And the Giant PUD is certainly not going into any “food desert” where it may be necessary to waive requirements to incentivize grocery chains. There are four supermarkets located within roughly a mile of the store, and at least 8 within about 2 miles.

As for parking, you suggest that Giant is providing too much parking for the residential component of the development. The more logical conclusion is that Giant is providing too little. The Giant developer rejected an ANC’s condition that new residences be ineligible for street parking permits, a condition that has been imposed on other PUDs in the Wisconsin Avenue area. So clearly, Giant is looking to nearby streets to assume the parking burden.

A Northwest Current editorial recently said, while supporting the Giant PUD, that nearby streets should be rezoned for 24/7 residential parking, to mitigate the street parking impact from the concentration of new businesses and retaurants. This has long been the model in close-in Bethesda and more recently has been tried on Capitol Hill in DC. If, as you suggest, the Giant PUD will have too much parking, no one should have an issue with such rezoning.

By: Streetsblog Capitol Hill » Less Parking, More Healthy Food

Streetsblog Capitol Hill » Less Parking, More Healthy Food — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:39:50 +0000

[...] populated part of New Haven that is unwelcoming to pedestrians. Today, courtesy of member blog The City Fix, we’re taking another look at urban supermarket planning — specifically, the issue of how to get [...]

By: Streetsblog New York City » Less Parking, More Healthy Food

Streetsblog New York City » Less Parking, More Healthy Food — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:32:47 +0000