Architects

Should city parking space requirements be abolished?

July 17, 2013

According to this opinion piece, regulatory parking mandates on new construction essentially tax the poor to subsidize the rich while damaging the environment and the broader economy.

Some cities are deliberately discouraging construction of new parking spaces by allowing the construction of buildings with a lower ratio of parking spaces to dwellings (as low as 0.75 spaces per residence, down from the typical one to two spaces per unit).

“What they really ought to do is something radical, and it’s the exact same thing every other city and suburb in America ought to do: reduce the number of required spaces to zero,” says Slate’s Matthew Yglesias.

(http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/07/free_parking_isn_t_free_parking_mandates_hurt_america_s_cities.html)

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