Cities are Seeing Positive Results After Appealing Parking Requirements
Although U.S. cities have changed vastly in the last 71 years, we still enforce the same minimum parking requirements as we did in the 1950s. But today these parking requirements are having significant social, economic and environmental impacts.
In the majority of our cities zoning laws require one parking space per apartment, one space per 300 square feet for retail buildings and one space for every 100 square feet of dining area for restaurants. This means oftentimes parking takes up more space than the priority asset being built and monopolizes valuable real estate that could be used for housing.
Rather than an issue of limited parking, there is a surplus. Approximately one-third of land in U.S. cities is utilized for parking, with eight parking spaces for every car. Satellite imagery and tax records concluded that with the exception of New York City, the parking densities per acre surpass the population densities in most U.S. cities. Additionally, surveys of parking usage at apartments buildings on the West Coast and Chicago determined one-quarter to one-third of spaces were consistently vacant.
Abiding by parking requirements is extremely expensive. In L.A., it cost developers about $50,000 to build one parking space. Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A. cost $274 million to build, with $100 million of that allocated towards parking.
On top of development costs, parking raises rental prices for housing units. In order to make up the construction costs, housing developments and businesses are forced to build these costs into their rent or products. On average, garage parking within apartment complexes cost individuals $142 per month, or an additional 17% of their rent price.
Tacking these costs onto rent and retail items favors car owners. The way our cities are built and the ample space for parking encourages people to drive rather than walk or take mass transit. In turn, this has a negative impact on our environment through the increased carbon emissions of vehicles.
But not all cities are staying victim to these outdated parking requirements. Buffalo, New York was the first city to abolish all parking requirements in 2017, and it was met with success. Parking was made an amenity in many buildings, allowing car owners to pay a fee rather than building it into the price. Revoking parking requirements incited property owners to share parking with neighboring businesses. It also encouraged less parking within densely populated areas. Minneapolis, Hartford, San Diego and San Francisco were also quick to follow suit and challenge parking requirements. California is currently pending a bill to scale them back statewide.
In addition to expanding affordable housing, repealing parking requirements invigorates cities by decreasing the number of cars and amount of space used for parking. This results in increased walkability and use of public transportation, minimizing greenhouse gases. Various studies speculate our future will hold less cars, as millennials are driving less than previous generations and with the rise of work from home policies. Green Street Advisors, a real estate focused research and analytics firm, hypothesize that the demand for parking in the U.S. could decline by 50% or more in the coming 30 years.
In a world where ride-share services dominate the automotive industry, there is less of a need for additional parking infrastructure. As more and more cities reject parking requirements and opt for sustainable parking, cities are being transformed. The lack of parking saves money for renters and developers while offering the housing market valuable undeveloped real estate. It preserves the historic charm of our cities and ensures that the people paying for parking are its users. City officials are seeing the value of modernizing our parking industry, and XPressPark is stimulating the movement.
Resources
1. Daniel Baldwin Hess Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, & Jeffrey Rehler Adjunct Assistant Professor. (2021, June 10). Parking reform could REENERGIZE downtowns – Here's what happened when BUFFALO changed its zoning rules. - The Conversation.
2. Spivak, Jeffrey. “People over Parking.” American Planning Association
3. Manville, Michael. “How Parking Destroys Cities.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 19 May 2021
