Cities tend to attract Millennials, but as the saying goes, when they get older and start families, off they go to the suburbs! Seattle developer and author A-P Hurd promotes parking unbundling as a key strategy enabling families to remain in cities.
A-P Hurd, also a Runstad Fellow in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, understands the importance of parking in urban living. In this piece, she writes how it affects housing affordability, but not just any housing - family housing.
Families need at least two bedrooms (and preferably more) to be comfortable. Ideally they would have separate (or semi-private) rooms for teenagers of different genders, or for relatives who come to visit. They want yards and access to safe places for their children to play. Many cities want to encourage the production of family-sized apartment units, but few two and three-bedroom apartment units are being built
"So how can cities meet these needs and encourage the private sector to build affordable urban housing for families? Well, they can start by changing their parking policies, " she writes.
Urban affordability and parking policy are closely connected. In urban apartment and condo projects, parking is almost always required, and because of the high price of urban land, typically that parking is provided underground.
Turns out that a key reason for bundling parking with living space, according to Hurd, has nothing to do with the residents' mobility needs but concerns of the neighbors, who are guarded about giving up street parking, referencing a piece she wrote in 2012 (and posted here).
"If cities are really committed to affordable housing, they need to look harder at their land use and building code requirements—such as bundling parking with living space—that structurally raise the cost of urban life," she writes.
Hurd recommends residential parking permits and properly priced street parking as better ways to manage street parking, particularly if scarce, rather than ensuring that new housing have the parking costs bundled with housing costs.
FULL STORY: How Outdated Parking Laws Price Families Out of the City
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.