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.
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.
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.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
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