Parking Inventories for Five Cities

Angie Schmitt shares news of a new report by Eric Scharnhorst at the Research Institute for Housing America, titled "Quantified Parking: Comprehensive Parking Inventories for Five U.S. Cities."

According to Schmitt, the report is the first time credible estimates of the total parking supply in several American cities has been made available, and the conclusion is dire. "American Cities Are Drowning in Car Storage" laments the headline.

It’s not an exaggeration to say American cities have been built for cars more than people. “After decades of requiring parking for new construction,” Scharnhorst writes, “car storage has become the primary land use in many city areas.”

According to Schmitt, "Scharnhorst used satellite imagery and tax records to tally on-street parking, surface parking, and garage parking in five cities: New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Des Moines, and Jackson, Wyoming." Scharnhorst expects the methodology will duplicable in other cities.

Caitlin McCabe picked up news about the study in Philadelphia, posing the reality of the city's parking supply to a public that can be easily angered over perceived lack of parking.