This sounds like it was pushed for by the development companies, not environmentalists. If this does anything except lower costs for businesses, I'll eat my shoe.
this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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Environmentalists are very much in favor of getting rid of these parking minimums. The sprawling endless mega stores, impossible to walk between with massive parking lots that are never even close to filled but taking up valuable space all come from these policies. They were originally heavily pushed by auto makers on the basis of pretty much zero evidence. Less parking lots will create denser neighborhoods that are more walkable, bikeable, and improve both the efficiency and use of public transit. There will be more things nearby, lessening the need for cars or travel for simple errands to begin with. Many downtowns have been strangled by these requirements, becoming parking lot ghost towns that barely anyone lives in, killing local businesses in the end.
Here's an environmentalist take on the issue if you don't mind a video:
If it gets rid of the minimums, I'm not complaining.
I think the bigger part is it lowers the barrier to entry for others.
There are spots where, if I wanted to build a 10 br apartment complex, I'd have to have a 20 space parking lot. That means I either need more land or more construction for a parking deck. Expand that out to 100/200 units and you can quickly see where this becomes a barrier.
Not to mention, this further necessitates parking because now my nearest neighbor is further away, which could have simply been a bar or grocery store.
Now I'm not someone that can afford to build something that big, but I wouldn't be surprised to see new builders move into the market.
I am excited to see how these cities change in the coming decades. Hopefully this helps us get better cities!
Will the use this newfound space to make the lives of the citizens or the lives of the corporations better?
I know where my bets are, on average.
There's one way to find out: See what the results have been in cities that have already eliminated parking minimums.
I think in some ways this will further separate the urban from the rural. Basically everyone I know works hard to avoid businesses in cities that don't have easy parking when you have to drive in 30 miles or more to get to them. But then again, maybe for much larger cities it works, at the cost of there being different shopping and eating locations for people who live in the city within walking distance and those who need to drive. Not sure how much the "social mixing" actually helps cohesion given existing rural / urban divides, but I can see this leading to people who basically are even more in 2 completely different countries. Of course, IDK how you fix this - NYC has park and ride set up, but the vast majority of third tier cities do not, or run one bus (that no one who can possibly avoid it wants to ride) twice a day, one in and one out.
its addressing sprawl problems. Not only is parking an expensive use of space to store a vehicle but its the tip of the iceberg: the access roads become a barrier to other transportation thats quieter, less polluting and most importantly more space efficient.
the other thing that needs to happen is exceptions need to be made to zoning laws for groceries and restaurants so they can be located in residential areas.
This will help reduce housing costs, and generally help traffic, as well as pave the way for public transport.
The article is will written and presents a number of points of view. Thank you for sharing.
The minimum parking spots per bowling lane was interesting.