Study: Eliminating Parking Requirements Would Boost Denver Housing by 12.5%

A new study reveals the impact of parking requirements on housing development in Denver, showing that eliminating parking minimums could yield over 400 new housing units per year.

As researchers Susan D. Daggett and Stefan Chavez-Norgaard explain in The Conversation, “We found that cutting minimum-parking requirements would likely boost housing construction in Denver by about 12.5%, translating into roughly 460 more homes per year.” The change is significant for one, relatively simple change in policy, the authors point out.

Like other Colorado cities, Denver eliminated parking minimums in August 2025. Using city data that factors in building size, allowable units per parcel, the number and type of units financially feasible, and the likelihood that an area will be developed, the study modeled 75 scenarios with five different parking policies. It found that even with the voluntary construction of 0.5 parking spaces per unit near light rail and 1 space per unit in other places, the policy change will yield roughly 460 new apartments per year. 

According to the study’s authors, in addition to increasing development flexibility for smaller and multi-family housing, “The policy change frees up land for more economically productive uses and for desired civic infrastructure such as sidewalks or green space. Developers freed from building parking are also more likely to invest in beautifying their building for residents and pedestrians.”