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For the past 100 years, the public and private sectors seem to agree on one thing: more parking is better.
As a result, cities devote valuable space to car storage, can hardly accommodate those who do not own a car, and have forced developers to build expensive parking lots that increase the cost of living. rice field.
Urban parking policies have two premises. Without dedicated parking for your car, you are less likely to rent or buy a home. Urban parcels are usually small and expensive, so developers build high-rise garages. And today, a plethora of these bulky concrete boxes clutter America’s densely populated cities.
We have been studying urban development and parking for decades. Despite the high cost to the environment and quality of life of many city dwellers, it has been difficult to remove the automobile’s dominance over urban planning.
But there are signs that that is finally starting to change.
A relic of the automobile boom
As car ownership exploded in the first half of the 20th century, local governments began mandating minimum parking spaces for each new store or apartment complex built.
Many of these regulations continue to openly guide development.
For example, Boulder, Colorado requires 1 parking space for each apartment, 1 parking space for every 3 restaurant seats, and 1 parking space for every 175 square feet of retail space. Zoning regulations in your community may be too similar.
However, with cities now facing severe housing shortages and soaring housing costs, parking garages and garages use precious land to accommodate cars instead of people. Only 20% of homes for sale are not affordable for people with average incomes.
