"All models are wrong, but some are useful." - George Box I dunno, man. I see something like this... ...And I see a developer telling the city council he shouldn't have to pay for a widened road and two traffic lights because he doesn't expect his mall to succeed. My experience is definitely colored by Los Angeles, where nobody builds as many parking spots as they need and nobody accounts for traffic impacts. After all, LAX still doesn't see why they need a cell phone lot. Why not? Because fuck you, we're LAX. But then people like Duncan Black argue that we're crushing the dreams of minorities and destroying livability for hipsters everywhere by requiring all dwellings in Los Angeles County to have two parking spots off the street and I'm like fuck you well-meaning-yet-ignorant east coast liberal douchebags, I have scrapes on my paint from rosebushes because the goddamn streets are so narrow in Venice that I have to drive on the fucking curb sometimes to get around traffic. I'm sure that happens somewhere. I'm just as certain that if Los Angeles County weren't held to the standards they're held to, the gridlock would be 24-hour instead of 18.ITE numbers also assume that projects will be successful, whereas in the real world many are not. This data, in other words, is based on measuring sites that have more traffic than typical sites.
But the bigger impact is on overbuilt roads and the construction of too much parking.