Small Towns Lead in Parking Reform

In an article for Sightline, Catie Gould provides three examples of small towns that have eliminated parking minimums, noting that more small towns have done so than big cities. According to Gould, “While large cities like San Jose, California, and Austin, Texas, garner national press coverage for eliminating parking mandates, this policy reform is most commonly enacted in towns with fewer than 25,000 residents.”

For every U.S. city with populations of over 250,000 that has repealed parking requirements, two small towns (under 25,000) have done so. This is in part due to the fact that there are more small towns than big cities — “But small jurisdictions are also likely underrepresented in the Parking Reform Network data. With little to no media coverage of zoning changes in places like Gilman, Wisconsin, or Canandaigua, New York, those parking reforms are less likely to make it onto the map in the first place.” Gould also points out that many small and rural communities never enacted parking mandates in the first place.

Gould highlights Ecorse, Michigan, where deindustrialization and population loss left the town with ample underused parking and vacant buildings. Eliminating parking requirements has made it easier to redevelop properties, says town planner Nani Wolf.