Planning policies that produce cheap, abundant parking are fundamentally at odds with efforts to promote transit, biking, and walking. A new report from ITDP shows how some cities have started to align parking policies with sustainable transport.
It's been more than 35 years since American cities including New York, Boston, and Portland acknowledged the connection between parking policy and traffic generation by setting limits on downtown parking. Since then, parking innovation has proceeded at a snail's pace. Streetsblog reports on a new study that highlights how that's starting to change:
"In San Francisco and New York, programs to bring the price of curbside parking more in line with off-street parking are reducing the incentive to cruise endlessly for a cheap spot. In Portland, planners have reduced parking requirements for new development near transit lines, helping to improve walkability and increase ridership.
"Boulder provides an intriguing study in parking management as an economic development tool. This small Colorado city is one of the only places that introduced new parking policies during the 80s and 90s. After deciding they couldn't compete with suburban malls by imitating them, local merchants led an effort that effectively capped the volume of downtown parking and directed revenue from parking facilities to improve transit, walking, and bicycling."
FULL STORY: Want to Foster Walking, Biking and Transit? You Need Good Parking Policy
The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall
The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.
The Paradox of American Housing
How the tension between housing as an asset and as an essential good keeps the supply inadequate and costs high.
Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities
The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.
Boston Moves Zoning Reform Forward
The ‘Squares + Streets’ plan creates form-based zoning templates for neighborhoods that promote mixed use and denser housing near transit.
Anchorage Leaders Debate Zoning Reform Plan
Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.
How to Protect Pedestrians With Disabilities
Public agencies don’t track traffic deaths and injuries involving disabled people, leaving a gap in data to guide safety interventions.
City of Yakima
City of Auburn
Baylands Development Inc.
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Town of Zionsville
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.