What is Parking Reform?

Parking Reform is the use of policies and activism to discourage the building of too much parking supply and encourage more equitable, efficient, and sustainable management of existing parking supply (usually by pricing parking).

Why should we reform parking policy?

1. Parking spaces are expensive - Conventional parking minimums can increase the rent or mortgage required for an apartment or house by $200-$500 per month.

2. Car parking takes up lots of space - many cities require more than one space per home. In new apartments, the space taken for parking cars takes away from the space that could be housing people. In suburban communities, surface lots prevent walkable design and lead to sprawl.

3. Car parking encourages more car ownership and more driving - since vehicle ownership tends to increase with income, this often forces lower-income households to subsidize the parking costs of their more affluent neighbors.

4. Car parking makes our communities less equitable - since vehicle ownership tends to increase with income, this often forces lower-income households to subsidize the parking costs of their more affluent neighbors.

What can we do about it?

We can demand our elected officials to reform our local and regional parking policies! If parking is in high demand, it shouldn’t be free. Builders and businesses shouldn’t have to build arbitrary amounts of car parking.

How will this affect parking supply in Denver?

Evidence from communities that have eliminated parking mandates shows that builders and local businesses still provide plenty of parking, but less than previously mandated. When Buffalo eliminated parking mandates, newly legal projects created twice as many homes and business spaces as developments that met the old parking requirements. In the 5 years after Seattle removed parking mandates, developers built 40% fewer parking spaces than would have been previously mandated, resulting in 18,000 fewer parking spaces and saving $537 million.