Friday, March 27, 2009

Curb Cuts And Garages

Inga Saffron continues my war on rowhouse garages.

As individuals, most would tell you - quite rightly - that street-front garages mess up the rhythms of the city's colonial grid. When a ground-floor room is replaced with a windowless garage door, it takes the human eye off the street. The accompanying driveway makes life more treacherous for pedestrians.

On top of all that, front garages reduce the supply of parking available for everyone else, by transferring a parking space from the public realm of the street to the private enclave of the garage. It seems rather selfish, when damage could be minimized by locating the parking behind the houses or in clusters.