Even as cities and states are reducing or eliminating parking requirements, lenders often require parking to release loans to developers.

Ned Oliver, in an article in Axios, cautions that, although the city of Richmond, Virginia is encouraging more density and walkability by reducing parking requirements, developers face another challenge to reducing parking: banks.
Per city rules, “Developers are no longer required to offer any dedicated parking if their building contains fewer than 17 units. For larger developments, they only have to provide one space for every two units.” But according to Oliver, “In exchange for agreeing to finance an apartment project, banks almost always require developers to build a minimum number of parking spaces — often well above the requirements set by the city, developers say.”
The problem affects affordable housing developments more than market rate ones where more residents own cars, but Tom Papa of Fountain Head Properties expressed concern that “parking minimums that make sense today will prove to be a financial albatross for developments 10 years down the road as Richmond changes.”
More on Planetizen:
FULL STORY: Secret parking minimums are driving up development costs

Red Cities, Blue Cities, and Crime
Homicides rose across the nation in 2020 and 2021. But did they rise equally in all cities, or was the situation worse in some than in others?

The Shifting Boomer Bulge: More Bad News for America’s Housing Crisis?
In the first of a two-part series, PlaceMakers’ Ben Brown interviews housing guru Arthur C. Nelson on the sweeping demographic changes complicating the housing market.

A Serious Critique of Congestion Costs and Induced Vehicle Travel Impacts
Some highway advocates continue to claim that roadway expansions are justified to reduce traffic congestion. That's not what the research shows. It's time to stop obsessing over congestion and instead strive for efficient accessibility.

IPCC Report: The World Is Running Out of Time on Climate Change
The planet is not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent report published by the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Skyline-Defining High-Rise Potentially Coming to Boise
A rendering making the rounds in Boise depicts a 40-story apartment building that would be taller than all other buildings in one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.

Buttigieg: Tesla ‘Autopilot’ Marketing ‘A Concern’
The USDOT secretary says marketing doesn’t fall under his department’s investigative authority, but expressed disapproval of language that implies autonomous operation.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps Program
Cornell University
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
City of Spearfish
City of Lomita
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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.