New Urbanist Blacksburg 

variety of environmentally preferable features, including a minimized footprint and/or impervious surfaces, stormwater best management practices (BMPs), and alternative parking surface materials” (Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). 

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Currently, the Town of Blacksburg comprehensive plan describes efforts to increase parking availability and use by constructing multistory parking decks and increasing awareness of available parking spaces (Town of Blacksburg, 2016). Notably, increased efforts for green parking would not impact these multistory parking decks except where lighting is concerned. However, the recommendations being made would impact most available surface parking and all future construction. Overall, parking spaces should be decreased in size to an all-around 15 foot stall length, which would still leave room for any standard-sized vehicle while allowing more space within parking areas. This would accompany a decrease in aisle width to 22 feet, which is the minimum space needed to allow vehicles to back up and reverse (Nevue Ngan Associates, 2009). With less space required to accommodate the same amount of cars, newfound space between aisles can be used to plant trees and build vegetated swales to absorb rainwater, mitigate the urban heat island effect, and contribute to the aesthetic value of the land (Nevue Ngan Associates, 2009). This construction would be funded by Green New Deal grants, and would seek to improve ecosystem health while increasing overall green space. Increases in green space, especially where trees are planted, would not only increase air quality and absorb some carbon, but also mitigate urban heat island effects and decrease energy needed to cool nearby buildings. Additionally, parking requirements would be revised to cater to normal usage as opposed to peak usage, so that parking spaces that are not often used can be made into rain gardens or recovered with a more permeable reinforced gravel or grass surface. Finally, ample free-to-use bike racks would be required in all lots that currently offer automobile parking, as well as on non-residential streets with on-street parking.

In existing residential areas, all of the above recommendations would also apply. Additionally, funding would be made available to create extended curbs for rain gardens and tree planting to increase green space. These are recommended to be built on street corners, where there is not enough space to safely have on-street parking but the area would likely be paved over anyway (Nevue Ngan Associates, 2009). Additionally, green extended curbs would be built around bus stops and street crossings to provide ecosystem services as well as a safety buffer between pedestrians and traffic (Nevue Ngan Associates, 2009). Green extended curbs can also be utilized in residential neighborhoods where there is more street space than needed for current parking demand in order to create more walkable, safer, and more comfortable streets. This is best suited for neighborhoods where most homes have off-street parking available, and street parking is only needed for overflow parking. Ideally, curbs could be redesigned to include green extended curbs with rain gardens or tree planting alongside on-street overflow parking paved with a permeable surface such as reinforced grass or gravel.

In all future developments, there should be the opportunity for more green parking construction subsidized by Green New Deal funding. Future developments should strive to have as little impervious surface as possible, and should utilize high-albedo light-colored pavement Nevue Ngan Associates, 2009). This will likely mean the use of porous asphalt, which is the cheapest viable pervious surface which is also easiest to care for during snow and ice events (University of Maryland Extension, 2016). High-volume traffic areas, such as entrances and aisles, may still need to use conventional surfaces, and areas such as gas stations and car washes that are at higher risk of contaminating the water supply should use traditional stormwater collection and conventional impermeable surfaces. Additionally, surfaces with more than 5% slope may use conventional surfaces since slopes of 5% or greater no longer benefit from permeable asphalt cover (University of Maryland Extension, 2016). Finally, all future developments should aim to have the majority of their parking spaces behind buildings, with as little parking between the street and facade as possible. Large amounts of parking space discourages walkability and encourages reliance on private automobiles. By placing parking behind buildings and reducing curb cuts, there is less pedestrian-traffic interaction, making alternative transportation safer and more appealing (Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).

In addition to building green parking lots to improve the health of local ecosystems and encourage alternative transportation, current and future parking lots can be made to use less energy on lighting. Lighting is generally important for parking areas, because of complex, often gendered sociological fear of increased crime in unlit or dimly lit areas (Green et al., 2015). However, studies in England and Wales have shown that not only is there little evidence of crime actually increasing in response to reduced lighting, but dimming lights to use less energy tends to go unnoticed by residents (Green et al., 2015). Additionally, sodium bulbs currently used can be replaced with more efficient LED lights to decrease energy consumption. While all newly constructed parking lots and multistory decks should use dimmed, energy efficient bulbs, Green New Deal funding should be used to retrofit existing parking areas with more energy efficient lighting systems. This would directly contribute to the Green New Deal’s goal of increased energy efficiency with almost no effect on residents.