The flexible parking structure is located next to a colonnade under the adjacent Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter rail line, which would be turned into a pedestrian spine through the heart of Rockville Centre’s downtown. The structure has 20-foot-tall (6 m) ceilings at grade to act as a covered plaza during off-peak parking hours in the evening and on weekends, when public markets and festivals can also spill out onto a contiguous open plaza. (Utile Inc.)

For urban planners who consider the automobile the major cause of the deterioration of cities, loss of community spaces, elimination of mixed uses, and decimation of urban street life, it may seem a contradiction to propose construction of parking structures as the cure. Yet that is precisely the intent and result of a proposal submitted in a design challenge sponsored by a nonprofit entity, supported by a regional foundation, and entered by leading architects and urban planners.

In suburban downtowns, where sufficient parking is still critical to operational viability, land prices and parking rates typically have not risen to levels that support the cost of structured parking. As a result, vast quantities of land are committed to surface parking in patterns that work against adequate numbers and concentration of the shops, restaurants, theaters, and cafés that draw enough patrons to activate those downtowns. Redevelopment potential could be substantial. For example, more than 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) in and around Long Island’s downtowns are dedicated to parking.....Continue Reading

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