Why does parking make everyone so angry?
From speed bumps and yellow lines to cycleways and resident parking, few issues generate more outrage in local politics than the humble car park. But how did parking become such a political battleground? Is free parking a basic human right, or is our obsession with cars holding our cities back?
In this episode of Who Broke My City, Christchurch city councillor Nathaniel Herz Jardine and Wellington city councillor Sam O’Brien share stories from the frontlines of parking politics, explore how we got here, and ask what it would take to make our streets – and the debate about them – a little more sane.
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00:00 Why does parking make everyone crazy?
01:38 Wellington’s Botanic Gardens cycleway controversy
03:38 When removing car parks goes wrong
06:23 The problem with free parking
09:14 How cars transformed our cities
13:14 The hidden costs of minimum parking requirements
17:22 Why parking politics divides voters
19:09 How to make better parking decisions
21:30 Lessons from Wellington’s suburban streets
24:09 Why we can’t just get rid of cars
26:00 A new social contract for transport
28:59 What should councils do next?
Nathaniel Herz JardineHostSam O'BrienHost