In today's New York Times, architecture critic Micahel Kimmelman looks at parking requirements for urabn development and he doesn't like how things have been going.
For big cities like New York it is high time to abandon outmoded zoning codes from the auto-boom days requiring specific ratios of parking spaces per housing unit, or per square foot of retail space. These rules about minimum parking spaces have driven up the costs of apartments for developers and residents, damaged the environment, diverted money that could have gone to mass transit and created a government-mandated cityscape that’s largely unused. We keep adding to the glut of parking lots. Crain’s recently reported on the largely empty garages at new buildings like Avalon Fort Greene, a 42-story luxury tower near downtown Brooklyn, and 80 DeKalb Avenue, up the block, both well occupied, both of which built hundreds of parking spaces to woo tenants. Garages near Yankee Stadium, built over the objections of Bronx neighbors appalled at losing parkland for yet more parking lots, turn out never to be more than 60 percent full, even on game days. The city has lost public space, the developers have lost a fortune.
Streetsblog wonders what this endorsement for eliminating parking minimums might have on the Department of City Planning.
This is not a new topic by any means. Donald Shoup's High Cost of Free Parking is a cornerstone of the field. Researchers from NYU have looked at the enforcement of New York City's minumum parking requirements and how proximity to transit affects the reuirements and the impact on housing affordability. There is also a thought that well-functioning off-street parking markets might be a solution.
