Using Good Design To Reduce The Impact Of Parking

Parking requirements can overwhelm a housing development, particularly an affordable one. Design Advisor offers several design ideas to help reduce the impact of parking on development and your residents. [Includes photos and examples.]

1 minute read

March 17, 2006, 12:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"The best way to get your parking out of sight is - well - to put it out of sight. The parking for YMCA Villa Nueva, a San Jose, California project for singles, families, and hostel guests with very low incomes, is underground. Parking still enters from the street, but this level of the building was given its own material to clearly distinguish the upper residential floors from the parking and other public uses that occupy the base of the building.

...But what if your only option is on-grade parking? One good strategy for reducing the overall impact is to group the parking in lots that are not visually in front of the house but are still easy to access. By choosing this approach, the design team for The Farm in Soquel, California, which contains a mixture of building types for both rental and purchase by families with very low to low incomes, was able to minimize the impact of parking on the experience of living here. See how it allows the residents to have front doors on open space in the center of the development."

Thanks to John Hooker via Profession of New Urbanism Listserv

Friday, March 17, 2006 in Affordable Housing Design Advisor

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

1 hour ago - InTransition Magazine

Row of older brick houses in Detroit with front porches and front lawns.

Detroit Says Problems With Property Tax Assessments are Fixed. Advocates Disagree.

With higher-valued properties under assessed and lower-valued properties over assessed, advocates say there's still a problem with Detroit's property tax system.

3 hours ago - Shelterforce Magazine

Google street view of red brick multi-story power plant building in Pittsburgh, PA.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower

A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

July 4 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette