Friday, June 4, 2010

Parking Lots, Opportunities for Green Change

Because of "Urban Sprawl", land has become a premium in suburbs that were once deemed rural. Over the past decade, parking lots have become an opportunity to maximize land use. In some cases, they have become green projects. These parking lots have been made into parks, condominiums with artificial wetlands to stop runoff, and in some cases, solar power generators.

But where do these parking spots go? Many times these parking spots are simply placed underground or in multilevel garages eliminating the need for the traditional parking lot and optimizing land use. Parking lots are seeing a change from level plains of asphalt to more efficient, greener structures that allow for land to be used efficiently.

Here is a great article from Time Magazine that tells more about the suburban parking lot change to combat urban sprawl. This is just another example of the type of thinking it will take to create an efficient, sustainable world (a lower need for parking spots would be nice too :)).

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2 comments:

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  2. I appreciate your optimism and think that the innovation surrounding this topic is promising. Education and developing talent in the sciences is an important part of the "green revolution".

    However, I ultimately agree that a lower need for parking spots is the best solution. People are too lazy today. Or maybe they're not lazy, they're just unconscious. The same people who come to me as a personal trainer and say they want to lose weight, tone up...blah, blah, blah...will make sure they drive their Escalade ego-vehicle to the parking spot nearest the gym entrance and then take the elevator instead of the stairs. There's days I wonder if anybody out there connects the dots...taking care of yourself is taking care of the environment and vice-versa...we are all one in this world. Together. In our successes and in our suffering.

    To me, Alex Grey's artwork says it all: http://shop.cosm.org/gaia.aspx

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