The first in a series of posts describing the work of PRN Research Intern Andrew Kiefaber on our efforts to compare the parking policies of various cities has been posted, check it out.

The big news last week was the vote in Berkeley, CA to eliminate most of the city’s car parking requirements and implement maximums in much of the city. Patrick Siegman ponders why Berkeley (and many other cities) required blind people to purchase car parking spots. Will Toronto, ON be the next city to eliminate car parking requirements? Dan Bertolet at Sightline details two bills in Washington state which could lead to widespread parking reforms.

The evidence against required car parking continues to mount. A recent study from UC Santa Cruz and UCLA researchers shows a strong correlation between building parking spaces and excess auto ownership. Another study, this one based in Chicago, concludes that car parking requirements hold back development at transit oriented locations. So what to do? This thread explains work in Washington, DC to evaluate transit-oriented housing projects for overabundant car parking, developers who choose to build excess car parking have to pay for additional mitigation.

Vancouver, BC may expand car parking permits to all residential neighborhoods. Charleston, SC will allow businesses on historic King St. to expand their operations without expanding their car storage supply. Ann Arbor, MI is exploring options to allow larger residential buildings, likely with less car parking, outside of downtown. Albany, NY will use eminent domain to force the sale and redevelopment of several “Parking Lot District” parcels. And the first multi-family housing development with no car parking in Austin, TX has broken ground.

Transportation for America has been studying how COVID-19 impacted curb management and how cities adapted. Citizens in Pasadena, CA are angry about the prospect of losing free car parking in public garages. But in North Carolina, paid car parking is going coastal at a trio of beach towns: Surf City, North Topsail Beach, and Beaufort. Further south, in Jacksonville, FL the city council has approved $3.5 million to assist in the building of a parking garage. The deal facilitates a plan to redevelop prime waterfront land that currently is a parking lot.

Finally, in parking enforcement news, a class action suit in Montreal, QC alleges that the parking meters deceptively overcharged city residents. And hazardous car parking in Ahmedabad, India is blocking streets and sidewalks, residents want a resumption of a citywide car parking crackdown which had previously brought the problem under control.

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