It’s Time to Invest in Parking Garages

It’s time for St. Louis to invest in parking garages. What’s that? You think we already have enough parking garages? You’re right, but this investment isn’t about building new garages, it’s about making current garages a little less jarring in our daily urban experience. The vast majority of St. Louis parking garages are ugly. A large number are horrific. A few are soul crushing behemoths. This need not be the case.

I recently wrote an article titled “Our Tolerance for Crap Must Be Zero” that advocated for higher architectural standards in St. Louis. The same should be true for parking garages. As bad as some may be, they are much easier to retrofit, dress up or alter than other structures. Attractive garages do exist: art, simple color, lights and plants can drastically and successfully transform these eyesores.