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Saying Goodbye to Parking Minimums
By Robert Ferrin, CAPP
The start of a new year is a very real reminder that change is all around us. The new year is a time to reflect on what has been and what will be. And often it's a time to say goodbye to everything from old habits and practices to challenges we faced in the previous year. As we look ahead to 2023, one practice we are actively saying goodbye to is that of requiring on-site parking with new developments in our cities. What started on the fringes of public policy has been thrown into the spotlight again and again as more US cities are doing away with parking minimum requirements.
Just last month the City of San Jose, California, became one of the latest and largest cities to do away with parking minimums. You can read more about it here. San Jose is one of dozens of cities that are embracing a future that is car-light and car-free and doubling down on investments in transit and public policies that encourage dense, mixed-use development that encourage walking, biking, and other active modes of transportation. This public policy trend also throws parking and transportation demand management practitioners squarely in the spotlight. As we say goodbye to parking minimums, we'll be saying hello in 2023 and beyond to a renewed need to have proactive parking and transportation demand management strategies to efficiently manage what will be less and less parking in our cities, on our campuses, and in our operations. It's a great challenge and opportunity for our industry, and one that we should be excited to tackle as we head into 2023.
Robert Ferrin, CAPP, is a Senior Project Manager with Kimley-Horn and a member of IPMI's Board of Directors. He can be reached at robert.ferrin@kimley-horn.com.