If everyone drove to work in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania‘s Center City, how much parking would we need?
According to a new report from the Center City District: 2.6 square miles of surface parking. The size of William Penn’s 1682 plan for the city? 2.2 miles.
Visualize that another way: If you were to build parking garages the size of the Comcast Center, you’d need 28 of them.
If everyone drove to work in Philly, parking spaces would crowd out the actual places of employment. In other words: Transit matters.
That’s the takeaway from Center City District’s latest report, which examined where the region works and how people commute.
Over the past few years, Philadelphia has been growing and Center City has led the way. Jobs in Center City grew 5 percent between 2010 and 2014, and residents increased 7.9 percent.
At the same time, though, Center City lost parking: more than 3,000 spaces. Yet, at the same time, parking availability actually increased.
The ineluctable conclusion: More Philadelphians are walking, biking and taking transit to work than ever before.