The Texas Doughnut
23rd July 2021
Developers are finding interesting ways to respond to latent demand for walkable neighbourhoods. As a result, the future of cities, at least in the south, may look like a Texas Doughnut. At least until cities start mandating more rational parking policies.
I think the Texas Doughnut is a great idea. The major problem with high-density housing in the modern world is that everybody wants a car and needs a place to park, and modern apartment buildings either force people away from having a car, or make large swathes of land into parking lots, which are pretty much useless for any other purpose. The parking area in a Texas Doughnut can be restricted to residents and visitors and hence is more secure than an outside parking lot, is less amenable to being taken over by homeless slums (where that could be a problem), and often have recreational spaces like playgrounds and gardens on their top level where people can send their kids to play without worrying about their safety. If the bottom level of the outside is available for businesses, the result is reminiscent of the ‘vibrant, walkable, full of amenities’ neighborhoods that urban planners cream their jeans over.
July 23rd, 2021 at 10:40
Another major advantage is that parking spaces can be associated with the unit so that residents park on the same floor as their apartment which makes many things easier. The increased security alone would make this a great improvement, but the increased convenience takes it over the top.