Anchorage is the latest city to enact sweeping parking reforms, in another blow to the car-centric status quo of planning.
Anchorage eliminated parking requirements, becoming the latest U.S. jurisdiction to participate in a wave of parking reform. According to Anchorage Assemblymember Daniel Vollands on Twitter, the Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday, November 22 to remove parking requirements citywide and add bike parking requirements to the zoning code instead.
Emily Goodykoontz reported on the story before the vote, detailing the political support for the reform. “Volland has led the proposal alongside members Kevin Cross and Forrest Dunbar, as well as a working group of the city’s planning department and a few community members,” writes Goodykoontz. “Volland drafted the proposed ordinance after the planning department in December suggested a set of changes that would have largely reduced requirements. But the department’s original proposal didn’t go far enough, Volland said.”
Anchorage’s decision follows just a few days after a decision to set parking maximums in Downtown Nashville. Cambridge, Massachusetts eliminated parking requirements in October.
Update: The Anchorage Daily News published a new story with updated coverage, after the Anchorage City Council’s vote.
FULL STORY: Anchorage Assembly to consider eliminating all parking requirements for new developments
Why Parking Reform Goes Hand in Hand With More Housing
To achieve the full benefits of ‘missing middle housing’ and make way for small-lot construction, cities must rethink parking mandates.
Parking Requirements Removed Near Cleveland Transit Stops
Transit oriented parking reform has arrived in Cleveland.
Phoenix Could Ease Parking Requirements to Support Transit, Affordable Housing
In addition to lower citywide parking requirements on residential properties, a proposed law in Phoenix would lower minimum parking requirements even further for affordable housing developments near the city’s light rail system.
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
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
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