The Twenty-first Century Parking Problem

Coming to grips with the parking problem is essential because the rest of the world is poised to repeat America's mistakes. If parking requirements do more harm than good, how should cities plan for parking in the twenty-first century? Most people know that cities require off-street parking spaces for every building, but few people—even those in the planning profession—have examined how these requirements affect cities. By shifting the cost of parking from drivers to everyone else, off-street parking requirements provide a huge subsidy to motorists, and thus increase the demand for cars, parking spaces, and vehicle travel. Urban planners set minimum parking requirements for every land use, but the requirements often seem pulled out of thin air or based on studies that are poorly conceived and limited. Poleodomogenic catastrophes like slum clearance and urban renewal happen because city planners sometimes mistake Pandora's box for a toolkit.