The "9x18" proposal by the Institute for Public Architecture provides a lesson in the relationship between parking requirements and the cost of housing.
New York Times Architecture Critic Michael Kimmelman details the "9 x 18" proposal, as created by Miriam Peterson, Sagi Golan and Nathan Rich, fellows at the Institute for Public Architecture.
The dimensions, 9x18, total 162 square feet or the size of a parking space. Here, Kimmelman explains the appeal of the proposal: "I’m intrigued by their proposal, '9 x 18,' because it’s about more than apartment buildings plopped onto vacant land. It considers how parking spaces — mandated in outmoded zoning regulations, prolific at public housing sites — might be leveraged into something more ambitious, something that encourages a mix of housing in active neighborhoods with accessible transit, public services and lively streets. In effect, the proposal trades asphalt for housing and amenities."
According to Kimmelman, the "9x18" proposal capitalizes on the currently onerous parking requirements found in the zoning code for many parts of the city. Specifically, "[it] calls for a new regulation that would tie the number of required parking spaces to the number and size of apartments, their affordability and proximity to mass transit."
Read the full story: Trading Parking Lots for Affordable Housing
New York Eliminates Some Parking Requirements in 'Transit Zones'
In a substantial part of the city, parking requirements will be eliminated for subsidized and senior housing.
New York City Proposes Parking Requirement Overhaul
The New York Department of City Planning is working on an overhaul of its parking requirements with the potential to impact hundreds of developments.
See the 12 communities on New York City’s affordable housing naughty list
The Upper East and West Sides, Elmhurst, and Bayside are among the communities that have built little affordable housing over the past five years, and now will see certain projects fast-tracked under new city rules.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority