The Onion takes parking requirements to their logical conclusion.
Satire publication The Onion takes aim at America’s often ridiculous parking requirements by imagining a new zoning law in famously car-centric Houston that requires ten parking spots for every new parking spot.
The fake article includes a fake quote from the Houston mayor: “For too long we’ve stood by and watched as historic parts of our beautiful city stood in the way of more and more parking spaces.”
The fictional zoning amendment highlights an all-too real problem: the vast amounts of prime urban real estate in U.S. cities dedicated to car parking. Houston is estimated to have as many as 30 parking spots per resident.
Read the full story: New Houston Law Requires 10 Parking Spaces For Every Parking Space
Asheville reconsiders parking minimums as surface parking eats up over a third of downtown real estate
Housing advocates say parking requirements are unnecessary and induce sprawl.
In a twist, Baltimore residents ask for less parking
A grocery store developer is asking to build more off-street parking than the city's new regulations allow, as well as 6 curbside spots that would replace an existing bus lane.
Chicago eliminates parking requirements near transit
In 2025, Illinois barred cities from mandating parking near train and bus stations.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority