The Problem of Parking

In Richard Longstreth’s article, Is Main Street Doomed? In the Drive-in, the Supermarket, and the Transportation of Commercial Space in Los Angeles, the issue of parking in the new vehicular based shopping was a constant problem. As these shopping centers were exterior, as the enclosed shopping mall had yet to be designed, store owners wanted the greatest exposure of their store front as possible from the car.

The layouts of these new shopping centers was not centered on pedestrian access, but a layout was designed that would be best suited for the movement of the car around the building. These shopping centers catered to the consumers growing use and reliance on the automobile. The centers were planned to allow the best viewing of the stores as people drove around the mall.

While this was able to be done in the exterior shopping centers of the 1920s, today as the shopping center has become an enclosed entity, the center has become increasingly interior, with little definition of what is located on the inside, from the exterior. Parking for consumers has become less of an issue as parking is no longer set for individual stores, but for the shopping center as a whole.