Chicago Doesn’t Own Its Own Streets

This episode features the wonderful talents of / @standupmaths   and you can check out their companion episode right here: Chicago has a problem until the year 2083.

And wait there’s actually something we can do about this maybe? Our friends at Climate Changemakers have put together a playbook on how to take action on minimum parking laws: https://www.climatechangemakers.org/p...

Special thanks to Henry Grabar (https://www.henrygrabar.com/) and Donald Shoup (https://www.shoupdogg.com/) for their parking reform research and advocacy, and for their willingness to help us with this episode.

Maybe you even want to buy Henry Grabar’s book, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World? Good idea! It was incredibly helpful in making this episode, and it’s a great read overall: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

Sources & Citations

Citations reference first appearance, without repeating for subsequent usage:

[00:30] - Reuters: Chicago leases parking meters for $1.16 billion (2008)

[00:43] - NY Times: Company Piles Up Profits From City's Parking Meter Deal (2009)

[00:43] - NY Times: Abu Dhabi Shares Profits From Parking Meters (2009)

[01:27] - Metropolitan Planning Council: Chicago Parking Meter Analysis (2014)

[04:43] - United States Court of Appeals: Micah Uetricht and John Kaderbek v. Chicago Parking Meters, LLC (2023)

[05:08] - Chicago Reader: FAIL, Part Two: One BILLION Dollars! (2009)

[05:28] - Chicago Sun-Times: Parking meter deal gets even worse for Chicago taxpayers, annual audit shows (2023)

[05:47] - The Atlantic: Why Does Abu Dhabi Own All of Chicago's Parking Meters? (2010)

[06:19] - Henry Grabar: Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World (link to purchase, 2023)

[06:52] - Better Government Association: Chicago’s Parking Meter Deal a Lesson in ‘Worst Practices’ (2010)

[07:31] - Courthouse News Service: Chicago’s decadeslong parking privatization contract goes before Seventh Circuit (2022)

[08:10] - City Council of the City of Chicago: Authorization for Execution of Concession and Lease Agreement and Amendment of Titles 2, 3, 9 and 10 of Municipal Code of Chicago in Connection with Chicago Metered Parking System. (2008)

[09:45] - Chicago Sun-Times: Parking meter deal Chicagoans love to hate gets worse — again (2020)

[10:17] - Office of the Inspector General, City of Chicago: Report of Inspector General’s Findings and Recommendations: An Analysis of The Lease of the City’s Parking Meters (2009)

[10:39] - Bloomberg: Morgan Stanley Group’s $11 Billion Makes Chicago Taxpayers Cry (2010)

[20:07] Donald C. Shoup: The High Cost of Free Parking (2004 Manuscript)

[20:17] - UCLA/Donald C. Shoup: The trouble with minimum parking requirements (1999)

[22:31] - United States Census Bureau: Nation’s Urban and Rural Populations Shift Following 2020 Census (2022)

[23:40] - KPMG: Independent Auditor’s Report - Chicago Parking Meters, LLC (2021)

[24:31] - Next City: Why Chicago’s Botched Parking Meter Privatization Is Also Bad for the Environment (2014)

[24:55] - Chicago Sun-Times: Half of Chicago neighborhoods lack electric vehicle chargers for public use (2023)

[26:59] - Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago: Mayor Emanuel Announces $1 Billion in Reduced Parking Meter Charges, Free Sundays and Pay-By-Cell for Chicago Parkers (2013)

[27:17] - Chicago Department of Transportation: Complete Streets Chicago (2013)

Episode Credits

Host, Head Writer, Editor: Rollie Williams

Executive Producers: Rollie Williams & Ben Boult & Matt Nelsen & Nicole Conlan

Writers: Nicole Conlan & Matt Nelsen

Directors: Matt Nelsen & Ben Boult

Cinematographers: Matt Nelsen & Ben Boult

Assistant Editor: Laura Conte

Fact Checker: Canute Haroldson

Animator: Ian MK Cessna (https://ianhasawebsite.com/)

Theme music by Gratis (   / @gratis3241  )

Stand Up Maths

Host, Creator: Matt Parker

Writers: Matt Parker & Alex Genn-Bash & Nicole Jabobus

Executive Producers: Matt Parker & Alex Genn-Bash & Nicole Jabobus

Directors: Alex Genn-Bash & Nicole Jabobus

Cinematographer, Editor: Alex Genn-Bash

Special thanks to the Civil Liberties Defense Center (https://cldc.org/) for their continued support.

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