Foster: Turn Roaring Fork Valley parking lots into high-density housing

It is widely recognized that the Roaring Fork Valley is experiencing a significant housing shortage. This issue has prompted endless conversation among residents over the myriad causes such as short-term rentals.

But one that frequently goes without consideration is our dependance on personal automobiles and the parking lots required for them. Despite the shortage of dignified living spaces, there is no shortage of housing for your car. There’s at least one at home and one anywhere you are going to drive it to, otherwise you wouldn’t drive there. This feels so normal in our lives that very few stop to question it.

But what if we increased housing and commercial real estate density by developing our parking lots? 

If each municipality in the valley were to convert half of its parking lots into high density housing, there would no longer be an undersupply of housing for employees — all without having to further encroach on our wild lands. This may seem unconventional, but building a sprawling, car-centric society in the mountain wilderness that we want to protect seems counterintuitive.

But by replacing automotive access with public transit and micro-mobility access, we wouldn’t need all of our parking lots. Every one of these villages is already walkable; this would make them comfortable to walk in. 

Taking Willits as a case study, converting the parking lots at the movie theater, City Market, and Whole Foods into mixed use housing and commercial developments would yield additional living opportunities equal to Tree Farm Lofts as well as a few new retail and restaurant spaces. This change would require an update of minimum parking requirement laws, but people would be able to comfortably live in this area without a car. You have biking proximity to two grocery stores and several restaurants that cover most day-to-day needs, and bus stops to facilitate convenient mobility throughout the valley to handle everything else.

If people would rather live in their cars than leave the valley, it is reasonable to assume that people are willing to live without a car, too. These sorts of projects across the valley would yield dignified housing for a couple thousand people, all while creating new entrepreneurial opportunities for local businesses and new social hubs. 

The downstream effect of this is that public transit has to improve. No one likes standing on the bus after a long day at work, and sitting in traffic is barely preferable. Increasing density throughout the valley would make it easier for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority to house drivers. Even a 15% increase in frequency would make our public transit system far more convenient and comfortable to use. The easiest change would be to shorten head times from 10 minutes to 7 on the BRT at peak times and from 30 to 20 minutes in the evenings or expanding the X-route frequency with better advertising of its existence. 

Additionally, the establishment of a new City Core BRT route with stops at the Glenwood Shopping Mall, Glenwood Train Station, Carbondale 6th & Main, El Jebel, Willits, Downtown Basalt, Intercept, and Ruby Park would make social life much easier. As it stands, the BRT best serves Aspen and Snowmass by taking people from where they live to where they work. A CBRT route would make it easier to get from home to the social centers of each town, improving the night life as well as the social fabric of the community. A similar service upgrade to the secondary P&R locations such as Catherine Store, Two Rivers Road, etc. would make transit easier for our more rural residents, as well. 

With the addition of the CBRT, there would be little need for free parking anywhere. Setting market-rate pricing for street parking and directing those fees toward public transit could cover much of this cost. Some restaurants might even find it more useful to rent those parking spaces, at a discount, in order to create outdoor seating. If they know that money will go to fund public transit that brings customers to them while expanding their daily revenues, then it’s a win-win situation. Paid street parking revenue up and down the valley would fund substantial upgrades to the RFTA system to the point that locals would no longer have a need to use street parking.

While implementing these changes may not address all of the challenges facing our community, they would greatly benefit many, if not all, who live here. At present, we allocate some of the most valuable real estate in the world to our automobiles in the form of free parking. By adjusting our approach to density and public transit, we would only need our cars to head to the wilderness instead of day-to-day living. Many families would be able to sell one of their vehicles, saving them thousands per year. Individuals struggling to maintain their car and make rent would have the option of comfortably going car free. High-density housing and business districts are far more comfortable to exist in than parking lots, and bring in far more tax revenue as well. 

Having a supportive community is vital. This requires stability, a healthy social environment, and high quality of life. As it stands right now, our automobiles are serving as obstacles to this. Parking lots do not create any more community than a short term rental does. No one is going for a stroll through the City Market parking lot.

But this does happen with the Aspen and Glenwood Downtown Cores. We need more social hubs of activity, and to enlarge the ones we have, by building residential and commercial density. We can accomplish this by utilizing public transit to reduce our dependence on driving while lowering our personal expenses.

All of us have been on vacation to a place that we absolutely loved because we didn’t need to drive anywhere. The Roaring Fork Valley can be like this for the locals, too. Car-centric culture doesn’t belong in a space restricted mountain valley; it’s time to house people instead of cars.