The true cost of parking

For decades, American cities have been built around antiquated minimum parking requirements. These regulations prescribe the specific number of off-street parking spaces required for every new development. How this exact number is calculated remains ambiguous and inconsistent, resulting in excess parking spaces, more traffic congestion, higher emissions, and limited affordable housing.  

In today’s world, minimum parking requirements define transportation options within a community. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: huge parking lots push buildings farther apart, making walking and biking more difficult and taking up real estate that could be used for public transit — hence furthering our reliance on cars.

Optimizing space for modern cities 

Cities and studies have demonstrated that eliminating these requirements offers broad-ranging benefits for everyone, including: 

• Improving housing affordability: Minimum parking requirements reduce available space for housing developments, which leads to less housing stock and higher rent for all tenants, even if they are not using the parking. 
• Driving economic growth: Large parking lots limit what developers can afford to build; allowing developers to make use of valuable urban real estate could make space for additional retail, housing, and restaurants. 
• Supporting small businesses: Reforming restrictive parking requirements could give current small business owners the opportunity to better meet the needs of their customers, including utilizing the space for outdoor dining or extended retail. 
• Meeting climate goals: Investing in reliable and sustainable public transit and freeing developers to design for walkability and biking can make cities more accessible to residents while also making significant strides towards net zero.

From densely populated to sprawling cities, more and more communities are making meaningful progress towards repealing antiquated and counterproductive parking requirements. Through education, collaboration, and negotiation, cities like Boston, San Diego, Honolulu, and St. Paul are proving that parking reform is possible — and powerful.

To learn more about how these major US cities partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to tackle parking reform through the American Cities Climate Challenge, read the full article here.