#FOREWORDFRIDAY: Start-Up City Edition

By Katharine Sucher / On October 15th, 2015
More than ever, cities are charged with carrying out national-level policies and are expected to be at the forefront of our response to climate change, housing inequality, job-creation and public health. At the same time, most city government agencies are perennially understaffed and impeded by cumbersome, often backward regulations that leave them at odds with the private sector. Seemingly insurmountable frustrations are everywhere. So the big question is: Can meaningful changes get made in spite of these realities?

Disarming objections to parking pricing

By Richard Willson / On September 28th, 2015
Since the beginning of time, parkers have argued that they should park free. Yet the economic justifications for pricing are well documented - pricing leads to more efficient parking use and a multimodal transportation system. Many arguments against pricing don’t hold up to scrutiny. I have been chronicling them in my work with local stakeholders over three decades. This blog post summarizes the top five arguments I’ve encountered and provides responses that are useful in the heat of the battle.

Small town parking vision in the big city

By Richard Willson / On August 11th, 2015
Why do so many good parking management ideas encounter resistance? For example, charging for curb parking is a no brainer. Priced spaces are used more times per day and better serve customers and visitors. Pricing encourages people to use less-known off-street spaces, reducing pressure to build expensive new parking facilities. Moreover, pricing provides revenue for local improvements. The most successful business districts charge for curb parking; the lagging ones do not.

The Worst Parking Ever...

By Richard Willson / On June 15th, 2015
  Last month, I gave a parking management presentation to a community group in Silver Lake, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles. They told me they had the worst parking problems in the city. If I had a penny for every time a community group told me that their parking problems are the worst ever, I would be wealthy.
Photo credit: Shutterstock

Travels Across the Pond

By Carlton Reid / On June 2nd, 2015
After two years at home, sitting in a darkened room trying to make sense of research notes, wrestling slippery arguments into a book, I took the show on the road, spending half of April travelling around the US. It felt great to be out in the open, breathing in crisp spring air, talking to strangers. (Thankfully, my ability to converse with real live people had not been lost during my exile.)

#ForewordFriday: Fill Your E-reader Edition

By Meghan Bartels / On May 22nd, 2015
Today is the first day of our summer e-book sale! All Island Press e-books are $4.99 on our site and at major electronic retailers until May 29th. With more than 600 e-books included, you can find classics and new releases on topics as diverse as architecture and urban planning, conservation biology, climate change, and energy production.

#ForewordFriday: Singin' in the Rain Edition

By Meghan Bartels / On May 15th, 2015
This urban rain garden two blocks from the Island Press office doesn't just help the city manage rainwater, it's also educates urbanites about rain, serves as wildlife habitat and is a lovely place to enjoy a frozen yogurt afternoon snack.  

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