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FULL STORY: How Outdated Parking Laws Price Families Out of the City

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

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie