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Smart Growth And Parking

Posted by: Chris Steins
Thanks to: Ashwani Vasishth
8 February 2006 - 2:00pm

This report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) explores approaches for integrating parking with smart growth goals.

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Current codes typically apply inflexible minimums that ignore community and developer priorities including environmental quality and human health. An oversupply of unnecessary parking wastes money and creates places that degrade water quality and encourage excess driving and air emissions. The highlighted solutions cover a range of supply management, demand management, and pricing strategies.

The approaches described in this report can help communities explore new, flexible parking policies that can encourage growth and balance parking needs with their other goals. The EPA developed this guide for local government officials, planners, and developers in order to:

  • Demonstrate the significance of parking decisions in development patterns;
  • Illustrate the environmental, financial, and social impact of parking policies;
  • Describe strategies for balancing parking with other community goals; and
  • Provide case studies of places that are successfully using these strategies.
    • Full Story: Parking Spaces, Community Places: Finding Balance through Smart Growth Solutions (PDF, 300KB)
    Source: US Environmental Protection Agency, February 7, 2006
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