Paved Paradise

How Parking Explains the World

By: Henry Grabar

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Shortlisted for the Zócalo Book Prize

Named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker and The New Republic

“Consistently entertaining and often downright funny.”—The New Yorker

“Wry and revelatory.”—The New York Times

"A romp, packed with tales of anger, violence, theft, lust, greed, political chicanery and transportation policy gone wrong . . . highly entertaining."—The Los Angeles Times

An entertaining, enlightening, and utterly original investigation into one of the most quietly influential forces in modern American life—the humble parking spot

Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a shocking number of Americans kill one another over parking spots, and we routinely do ri­diculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Since the advent of the car, we have deformed our cities in a Sisyphean quest for car storage, and as a result, much of the nation’s most valuable real estate is now devoted to empty vehicles. Parking determines the design of new buildings and the fate of old ones, traffic patterns and the viability of transit, neighborhood politics and municipal finance, and the overall quality of public space. Is this really the best use of our finite resources? Is parking really more important than everything else?

In a beguiling and absurdly hilarious mix of history, politics, and reportage, Slate staff writer Henry Grabar brilliantly surveys the nation’s parking crisis, revealing how the compulsion for car storage has exacerbated some of our most acute problems— from housing affordability to the accelerating global climate disaster—and, ultimately, how we can free our cities from park­ing’s cruel yoke.

©2023 Henry Grabar (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“You might expect a book about parking to be a snore. But I have news to report. Henry Grabar’s Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World is not a slog; it’s a romp, packed with tales of anger, violence, theft, lust, greed, political chicanery and transportation policy gone wrong . . . [Grabar] lays out the issue cleanly and clearly . . . His highly entertaining take on a serious subject will persuade more people to at least take a good look.” —The Los Angeles Times

“[A] wry and revelatory new book about parking (a combination of words I never thought I would write) . . . The dream of the open road assumes a place to put our cars when we arrive at our destination. This is perhaps why so many Americans expect parking to be 'convenient, available and free'—in other words, 'perfect.' Grabar empathizes with these desires, which is partly what makes Paved Paradise so persuasive.” —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review

“Henry Grabar’s Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World covers a topic most people overlook . . . The author himself makes the bold claim that 'parking is the primary determinant of the way the place you live looks, feels, and functions.' By the end of this compelling and insistent book, you might actually believe it.” —The Wall Street Journal

Cracked my mind wide open

Vital information and perspective shifting for anyone who values affordable housing and walkable cities. Tons of enlightening data and statistics but never dry or dull. Engaging anecdotes to really drive home (npi) the author’s thesis.

Places to live or places to park?

This is a brilliant analysis of how 20th century culture traded off affordable housing in exchange for free parking, and how 21st century urban planners and technology are slowly, but surely changing the landscape. 

Inspiring in its unique perspective on the problem of parking.

What an amazing book. I learned more about parking than I ever thought possible. And yet it was entertaining, meaningful and inspiring. It makes me want to go lobby our village our state and our country to start making changes for the better. America doesn’t have to be suburban squalor forever. It just needs to rethink parking.

An eye opening look at one of the most overlooked things

Since moving to a city 15 years ago parking has been a huge part of my life without me really even knowing about it. This book clearly explains just how fundamental parking is. It’s a must read for anybody living in a city

I wish the author talked more about the devastating effects that parking has on biking. He only touched on it a few times.

You can probably skip all of Part 2, in my opinion, and it’s still well worth reading this book

Fascinating

This was a very interesting and entertaining book. It made a lot of sense to me, and did not surprise me.

There was so much information, that I probably will read it again.

Imagine a radically different world

This book does an excellent job of breaking down the many different rules about parking and obstacles city planners face when trying to make cities for the people and not for the cars. Europe does this surprisingly well, will America radically change its approach to cities and give them back to the people? Grabar makes the argument that it’s possible but that the intervening years between the current reality and the imagined reality will be challenging

Extremely important book

Extremely important book that should be required reading for public officials and in classrooms. Makes the point effectively that we should all bike and walk, not drive a car.

Elucidating AND entertaining!

I am passionate about public spaces and urban planning, so after hearing a story from this book on the brilliant podcast Cautionary Tales, I was eager to read the whole thing. It was everything I'd hoped for!! It's hard to define just how captivating, relevant, and *fun* this book is -- because yes, it is about parking of all things, and most of us would prefer never to think about parking again. But it's also about people: the kind of world we want to live in vs. the one we actually create, and our very real power to change it. With its brilliant composition, excellent narration, and under-studied yet massively impactful subject matter, Paved Paradise is by all means a worthy listen.

Who knew how interesting parking is?

This was so listenable, I could hardly put it down. It was incredibly interesting information on a topic I’d scarcely ever considered.

Would recommend

I really enjoyed this book. If you have any interest in learning more about the history and nuances of why and how parking dictates the landscape of cities over time, and what some cities are doing to bring people downtown again, this book is for you. From parking garages, Disney infrastructure, zoning laws, ice cream truck battles, and the housing crisis, many topics are covered with just enough information to entertain without dragging on. 5/5