This is a really interesting piece. As the defense industrial base pushes for rapid expansion, sustaining such large workforces will remain a challenge without commentary like this.
With many A&D hubs (LA, Denver, and Huntsville, for this example) having lackluster public transportation, the car-to-in-person staff ratio is near one-to-one. It'll be interesting to see how Anduril deals with this issue in Long Beach. Anduril has historically pushed for 5-day in-office weeks, and I can't imagine how they'll sustain 5,500 staff without significant infrastructure on the new campus.
With respect to the Pentagon, I think they can (and most likely will) not make any changes to their parking. For one, the mystique of the Pentagon's walls would be obstructed by a huge parking structure. Not sure if this would create any additional security concerns either. Also, outside the (granted, large amount of) generals, high-ranking OSD staff, and high-profile visitors, I imagine the majority of Pentagon staffers use public transport. In the summertime, around the Pentagon metro stops, I frequently see both civilian and active military Pentagon staffers flowing in and out of the turnstiles.
While public transport might save the Pentagon from a new national parking strategy, I think the broader defense industrial base will continue to have this issue if they aren't permitted to build up.
The National Parking Strategy AKA the NPS - I hadn’t thought about that but it would be a really interesting exercise. Maybe will work on writing that in the near future. It sounds too joke-y to exist but perhaps might make sense.
One of the interesting things I came across while writing this (didn’t make the article tho) was about LA Space Force base - they literally talk about a parking strategy/environmental review
This is a really interesting piece. As the defense industrial base pushes for rapid expansion, sustaining such large workforces will remain a challenge without commentary like this.
With many A&D hubs (LA, Denver, and Huntsville, for this example) having lackluster public transportation, the car-to-in-person staff ratio is near one-to-one. It'll be interesting to see how Anduril deals with this issue in Long Beach. Anduril has historically pushed for 5-day in-office weeks, and I can't imagine how they'll sustain 5,500 staff without significant infrastructure on the new campus.
With respect to the Pentagon, I think they can (and most likely will) not make any changes to their parking. For one, the mystique of the Pentagon's walls would be obstructed by a huge parking structure. Not sure if this would create any additional security concerns either. Also, outside the (granted, large amount of) generals, high-ranking OSD staff, and high-profile visitors, I imagine the majority of Pentagon staffers use public transport. In the summertime, around the Pentagon metro stops, I frequently see both civilian and active military Pentagon staffers flowing in and out of the turnstiles.
While public transport might save the Pentagon from a new national parking strategy, I think the broader defense industrial base will continue to have this issue if they aren't permitted to build up.
The National Parking Strategy AKA the NPS - I hadn’t thought about that but it would be a really interesting exercise. Maybe will work on writing that in the near future. It sounds too joke-y to exist but perhaps might make sense.
One of the interesting things I came across while writing this (didn’t make the article tho) was about LA Space Force base - they literally talk about a parking strategy/environmental review
https://www.losangeles.spaceforce.mil/Portals/16/images/New%20Web%20Updates_Lt/LA%20AFB%20Phase%202%20Parking%20Structure%20Draft%20EA_021523_Webview.pdf
There are always overlooked factors in everything.
Parking hadn't crossed my mind. Now it has.
Thank you for the fascinating analysis!
Love the abundance x defense tech crossover