ABSTRACT
Planners must establish parking requirements for every land use, but they have almost no theory or data to help them estimate how many parking spaces are really "needed." Planners are under tremendous pressure to resolve current land-use conflicts, and the future is typically left to take care of itself. Parking requirements help planners avoid immediate conflicts over current development, but they plant the seeds of many long-term woes. Parking benefit districts will convert communal rights into public revenue. Cities own all the curb parking spaces but tend to treat them as communal property with open access—parking is free for anyone who can find a space. The federal and state governments, for example, have almost no interest in curb parking. Charging for curb parking can help solve several other difficult commons problems. Charging for parking will reduce traffic congestion, which is itself created by free access to scarce road space.
