The city of San Francisco became the largest city to end minimum parking requirements through the city earlier this month.
"In a win for housing affordability and walkability, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted [earlier this month] to eliminate the city’s minimum parking requirements," according to an article by Angie Schmitt.
The end came swiftly for parking minimums in San Francisco. Supervisor Jane Kim proposed the legislation at the end of November, and by December 11 it had passed. The rest is history.
"The mandatory parking rules date back to the 1960s and required [PDF], for example, one parking space for every six classrooms at an elementary school. In some places, they require one parking space per housing unit," according to Schmitt.
"The reform…makes SF the latest city to dump antiquated rules that constitute a huge hidden subsidy for driving. Hartford, Buffalo and Minneapolis have all either moved to or done away with parking minimums in the last two years alone." Cincinnati, Oakland, and Seattle have also passed large parking reform packages, stopping short of ending parking minimums citywide, in recent years. Next up could be San Diego.
FULL STORY: San Francisco Eliminates Parking Minimums
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association