The case for parking reform

An exciting law passed the California State Assembly last week prohibiting local governments from imposing minimum parking requirements on developments within a half-mile walking distance of public transit.

It remains to be seen whether the bill can pass the Senate and get signed by the governor, but its majority in the assembly was very strong, so I think the odds are good.

Given the intersecting nature of land-use rules, it’s not totally clear at first blush how much extra housing will be unlocked by this measure. You can’t turn a parking lot into a small apartment building if the zoning prohibits small apartment buildings. But what’s true is that parking minimums constitute an important barrier to development over and above conventional zoning. And that includes being true in places that are not superstar transit cities or anything. When Minneapolis reduced its parking minimums, typical rents for a new studio apartment fell from $1,200 a month to about $1,000 a month. Minneapolis is not a hugely dense city. Most people there aren’t in the market for a studio apartment at all. But there is fungibility across housing markets. Cheaper studios mean you have fewer family-sized single-family homes being occupied by groups of twenty-something roommates and more available for families.

Garage parking inflates the cost of high-rise rentals by about 17%. In most cases, renters will probably see that as money well-spent, and even absent mandates, there should be plenty of parking built. But just as some people live in small homes to save money, some people could live in accommodations with no parking to save money.

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