The link between parking & crime should inform our urban design goals
Research from the American Institute of Architects shows that parking facilities are more likely to host violent crimes and property crimes than all other types of real estate except residences.
Are we factoring this connection into our goals for urban design? Into our goals for reduction of car trips? For the reduction of crime?
We should be. Any conversation about parking minimums and maximums in the city needs to be partially informed by the known connection between car storage and crime.
My Atlanta news feed seems to have at least one crime report week, often with a shooting, that takes in a parking facility. There are several recent examples to illustrate this.
One incident happened at Lenox Mall (pictured below) and it involved gunfire. The WSB article about the shooting notes a similar example of violent crime last month in a Lenox parking deck.
Last week saw a report of gun violence related to break-ins of cars parked on a Grant Park street.
A couple of days ago there was a shooting in Downtown Atlanta that “happened after an argument over parking Saturday night.”
And this weekend, 76 cars were smashed by thieves in a residential parking deck.
It’s common sense: when there are no “eyes on the street” — of the type that allow city dwellers to look out for each other — you risk lowered safety. And our parking facilities are usually out of view from residents and business owners, unlike sidewalks and roadways.
We don’t have to accept these unwanted behaviors as inevitable aspects of big-city life. The current requirements for parking in Atlanta can be changed. Lowering the amount of parking that we build in the city can help, as can raising our expectations of the amount of surveillance that property owners provide for these facilities.
The AIA study mentioned above shows a clear link between parking and crime — a link supported by many of our local news stories. It’s something to consider as we plan out the kind of urban fabric we want to support with our ordinances and policies, and the kind that we want to avoid.
