ADAMSON SQUARE Option IV

This secondary roundabout concept was also adapted from existing plans Georgia & West, Inc. created for the city. Unlike the previous example, this concept retains 10 outer parking spaces in each quad, replacing the interior spaces with planted traffic islands. This concept could create a confusing traffic arrangement for visitors exiting the parking areas in each quadrant.

Proposed

In this design option the pedestrian space available in each quad remains essentially unchanged compared to current conditions. However, traveling through the area on foot would become less direct. This concept could also create confusion for visitors entering or leaving parking areas ringing each quad.

EXISTING: The northeast quadrant at Adamson Square features a roughly 22-and-a-half-foot one-way drive lane and back out area. This width could accommodate two travel lanes and is excessive to move a single lane of traffic. This quadrant includes 10 outer square parking spaces and four interior spaces.

For more than half a century, planners across the country have reshaped the built environment to fit the needs of the car. In the years following World War II, most cities began requiring a set number of on-site parking spaces for defined uses like apartments or by a square footage basis.

Today, parking represents the largest single use of land in American cities. Sprawling waves of low density, auto-centric development suited only for vehicular travel have swallowed up vast swaths of the country, particularly in Sunbelt areas like Metro Atlanta. Most Americans have become accustomed to patronizing businesses and restaurants with vast areas of dedicated, free parking. None of this parking is really “free.” A single parking stall in a surface lot typically costs between $5,000-$10,000 for construction alone. Parking spaces in garages can cost up to $50,000 per space. The costs associated with free parking are typically passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods, services, and rents. The outsized societal cost of parking and the sprawl it encourages is even greater, from hollowed-out cities and an escalating obesity epidemic to the insatiable global demand for fossil fuels. These costs continue to add up for the average American, our governments, and society at large. Today the traditional downtowns we love to visit, like Carrollton’s Adamson Square, have by and large become impossible to recreate due to strict parking minimums required for new construction. The costs of parking in downtown areas far exceeds those of parking in greenfield development. A study in Hartford, Connecticut, determined that the city gives up roughly $1,200 in tax revenue per parking spot annually when factoring in opportunity costs. Using downtown land for parking instead of tax-paying businesses resulted in an estimated total loss of $50 million in annual revenue for that city.

Despite being impossible to build, people crave the experience of visiting the dense and diverse downtowns that power our local economies and give a tactile presence to our shared history and heritage. Planned generations before the first car, Carrollton’s compact downtown area includes a diverse mix of uses, from mom-and-pop small businesses and restaurants to a brewery, upper-story apartments, performance venues, and more. Visitors can easily navigate downtown on foot and travel from one end of town to another in a matter of minutes. Carrollton’s early planners designed and built the city around the human scale. It is unrealistic to think Carrollton will ever be able to squeeze enough parking in the city’s downtown core to suit all visitors. Doing so would result in the loss of the qualities that draw visitors to town in the first place: downtown’s historic buildings, walkable streets, and very palpable sense of place. However, the city can take other actions to help address the city’s perceived “parking problem.”

Rome Street Greenbelt

5-MINUTE WALK

BANKHEAD & CEDAR STREET

MANDEVILLE MILLS

15-MINUTE WALK