ABSTRACT
This chapter examines baseline parking conditions in the United States. We briefly cover the history of parking in the United States and how it got to be such a dominant land use. We address current municipal parking standards, including the ratio of parking spaces per square foot of commercial space, and parking spaces required per dwelling unit or bedroom, for both urban and suburban locales in large- and medium-sized cities, though recognizing that parking minimums are on their way out as a municipal land use requirement, although market forces do have minimums, especially those required by financing institutions. We also examine market-driven parking standards sometimes required by anchor retailers, which may exceed the municipal requirements, and show some parking data from the office sector.
In a more dynamic vein, we consider the current transformation in suburban office space demand (hoteling, open plan, etc.), as well as the change in demand for available parking resulting from movement away from “brick and mortar” stores, which is losing out to online retail shopping.
