More often than not, communities take their parking for granted. When parking is discussed at all, the general assumption tends to be that more parking is needed, not less. But as we’ve covered before, American cities and towns often have more parking than they need, thanks to archaic parking requirements that fail to respond to the needs of the day. Adjusting these requirements can have numerous benefits, if decision-makers know where to begin.
As the Parking Reform Network has documented, communities across the country are repealing parking minimums, either marginally or in full. These changes can help provide more housing and travel options, increase economic opportunity, and reduce negative environmental impacts caused by our built environment.
The right approach for each community will depend on the local context, including your community’s current use of parking and your community’s values and goals. Any decision will require an inclusive community engagement strategy that incorporates the voices of the full community. Often, the fear of losing access to parking can result in a strongly vocal minority stalling reform, so it will be essential to address those fears and to find champions for change within the community. Some alterations to parking minimums can be less intensive, and therefore less controversial than others.
Some options to consider to help curb our parking addiction:
- Reduce or eliminate parking minimums, like South Bend, IN.
- Implement parking maximums in place of parking minimums, like Hartford, CT.
- Change the zoning code to say “spaces recommended” instead of “spaces required,” like Norman, OK.
- Use demand or performance-based pricing to maximize efficiency of existing spaces, like Los Angeles, CA.
- Adopt pedestrian-only zones for periodic events (like Chattanooga, TN) or to boost foot traffic for local businesses in a specific area (like Portland, ME).
To showcase the range of approaches available to address parking reform, and the benefits these changes have already started to provide, we took a look at two different communities that made the choice to rethink their parking requirements: Fayetteville, Arkansas and San Diego, California.
Fayetteville, AR
The City of Fayetteville had a population of about 99,000 as of 2022 according to the U.S. census. As of 2022, 79.8 percent of residents commute by car (72 percent by driving alone, 7.8 percent by carpooling), 1.7 percent commute by public transit, 3.1 percent by walking, and 0.6 percent by bike.
Planners in Fayetteville approached city council about repealing parking minimums after noting that many of the city’s vacant properties were remaining vacant. They realized that the reason for this could have to do with their parking requirements. Under their old requirements, redeveloping these properties was nearly impossible—none had enough space available to accommodate the amount of parking required. While some of these buildings were in the city’s commercial downtown, many weren’t.
Based on these observations, planners asked the city council to eliminate all commercial parking requirements, and in 2015, the council agreed.
The change allowed for more flexible development that better suited the city’s needs. Businesses set up shop in once-vacant buildings (including Feed & Folly, a restaurant right off the downtown square, which settled into a building that had been vacant for decades). Many continue to provide parking, though not as much as they were once required to. Other redevelopments are set up in places without space for any new parking, enjoying the benefit of being located in walkable areas near existing public parking spaces, where customers can park and walk to multiple stops before returning home.
San Diego, CA
The eighth largest city in the United States, the City of San Diego is home to 1.4 million people. Like Fayetteville, the majority of San Diego residents commute by car (64.3 percent as of 2023, while 3.1 percent used public transit and 4.4 percent walked).
To improve mobility options in San Diego and reduce harmful emissions caused by transportation, the city adopted Ordinance O-21041 in 2022, eliminating parking requirements for all commercial neighborhoods and for businesses in transit priority areas. This ordinance meant that businesses could still provide “as much parking as they need,” while also exploring other uses would-be parking space, like outdoor dining. It builds upon the 2019 “Housing SD” reforms that eliminated minimum parking space requirements for all multi-family housing in transit priority areas.
Another way San Diego seeks to address its parking needs is through Community Parking Districts, which allow neighborhoods to create their own strategies to manage parking based on their specific needs and goals. These districts can implement a range of initiatives, from parking management efforts to pedestrian mobility improvements.
A little less parking, a lot more options
After nearly a century of building out parking spaces, our communities are ready to allocate space towards more options that will better serve their needs, like affordable housing and opportunities to walk, bike, and take public transit. We’re excited to see cities and towns across the country trying new solutions to better meet their local needs, and we hope to see even more communities follow suit. Learn more about the negative impacts of parking minimums and what we can do about it in the rest of our series, Parking minimums: A barrier to smart growth.