The disruptive nature of the worldwide pandemic is forcing the evaluation of needs and priorities across organizations and households. For many white-collar employees, working hours have increased as commute times have decreased. Most functions of life are done from home including school, work, shopping, and church. Traffic on roads are lighter and parking lots are emptier.
As recently as 2018, the U.S. had as many as 2 billion parking spaces for its 250 million cars. Most of this valuable real estate sits empty all the time even in major cities. While current parking levels are down due to lockdown, after the pandemic excess parking will only increase.
Consumer behavior was already driving trends that increased ecommerce, reducing the need to go to a brick and mortar retail store. It has become ordinary to see Amazon Prime, FedEX, and UPS trucks driving up and down neighborhood and downtown streets throughout the day. Public transportation and ridesharing has also transformed behavior with light rail, UBER and Lyft moving people to their cities’ downtown core instead of navigating where to park and paying for parking. All of this was before the pandemic.
As local economies open up in phases, this is an opportune time to think creatively about spaces. What is the best use for excess parking? Or even buildings? Can these spaces be adapted for a different purpose and be useful in creating a thriving community? Can excess parking spaces be reimagined in a way that contributes to local neighborhoods? What if spaces were designed to be inhabited and enjoyed rather than abandoned as soon as the service or event is over? Creative use of excess space can lead to caring for the neighborhood, providing employment training, breaking the cycle of poverty, and helping solve a current community crisis.
Here are some examples we hope will inspire you and spur on innovation.
Farmers Markets/Food Trucks
Farmers markets can be a seasonal tenant one day a week from the Spring to Fall season in an underutilized parking lot. Partnering with city government can offer new relationships with local government and the market businesses. Food Trucks are another opportunity to host guests, not just the food truck businesses but also their customers who live and work in the neighborhood. These are income opportunities that can contribute to church budgets. Parking lot management companies proliferate in cities and can help manage the food trucks.
Park and Ride
A well placed park and ride can help many commuters who catch the bus or train from your parking lot. Offering a safe place to park vehicles serves the neighborhood. Many cities have developed fee based park and ride programs for private lot owners. In Seattle, park and ride commuters are willing to pay between $30-$110 per month for a guaranteed parking space depending on the location.
Charging Stations
Demand for charging stations for electric vehicles are skyrocketing. Another opportunity for sustainable income is installing electric vehicle charging stations in church parking lots. Whether it’s for regular parishioners or cars traveling through your city, charging stations are automatically placed on a map so they are easy to find. Revenues from charging electric cars vary from .39 to .69 cents per Kwh. The amount of space needed to install an EV station is minimal, unlike gas stations. Tax credits and rebates are available to property owners who install the EV chargers. EV charging station management services are also available to help manage the stations.
Schools in the Fall
As school openings approach this fall, school boards, teachers, and parents are already hard at work thinking about ways they can have school online and in person at least part of the time. Making social distancing happen at school with even a portion of the students will be a massive endeavor. Is there a way that the church can assist local schools with the underutilized space? Building relationships with the parents and educators will go a long way in leveraging church resources to bless the community.
Community Gardens
On a small scale we can convert excess parking to community gardens. Volunteers can plant seeds in an underutilized space and vegetables will be ready for harvest in a few weeks. Take a look at this inspiring example. Joey Lankford, executive director of Cul2vate, a community garden program in Nashville, Tennessee did exactly that. Lankford spoke recently at the QIdeas Conference in April and told the story of how Cul2vate took eight acres of underutilized city land and transformed it into a farm with greenhouses teaching work skills, and engaging local businesses to buy the produce as well as providing acute hunger relief.
Affordable Housing
The city of San Diego recently unanimously approved a reform allowing local churches and other religious institutions to build affordable housing in parking lots to use large areas typically unused during the week. The city’s church leaders have been eager to be a part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis affecting working families. There are 1,100 churches in San Diego which own 3,000 acres of property. UPLIFT San Diego said that if 100 churches were to each build 20–30 affordable housing units, what a difference it would make in addressing the housing crisis. The examples of affordable housing UPLIFT San Diego have developed vary from modern designed accessory dwelling units to multistory apartments adjacent to churches. The solutions are as varied as the churches themselves.
Holistic Poverty Solutions
Urban Impact in Seattle, Washington offers a holistic approach to ending poverty. Founded by Pastor Harvey Drake of Emerald City Bible Fellowship, Urban Impact developed a neighboring property and built a 4 story 61 unit apartment home with a community nonprofit partner. At street level is a 1,200 member gym designed for the community, after school programs, and entrepreneurship mentoring programs. Urban Impact invited other ministry partners and churches to help end poverty in South Seattle.
Organizations and churches are already using excess parking capacity and transforming it to be a generous and lucrative service to the community. Each of these examples is possible. Uncertainty invites innovation. While the pandemic is accelerating a lot of change, it is also presenting opportunities to liberate church assets for a new purpose. It takes leadership to make any of these ideas happen but it is possible with a plan and experienced advisors. The Link2Lift team is committed to being a part of new innovation and to guiding land and property owners through human centered design thinking and partnering for the common good of each community.
