Why do we have parking minimums in the City of St. Paul? The current city ordinance is copied at the bottom of this post for reference, but it provides no justification. Parking Minimums = Control I once asked an employee from DSI (Department of Safety and Inspections) why a bar should have more parking space […]
On Monday April 22, the Richfield Planning Commission split 3-3 on a recommendation by planning staff to reduce parking minimums in mixed use zoning districts. In areas near transit, the plan would reduce minimum requirements from 1.5 to one space per unit. Outside of areas with high frequency transit, parking minimums would be made consistent […]
Every large American city has parking requirements. New York has parking minimums. Portland has parking minimums. Even Houston, which stands alone in the United States by forgoing zoning laws altogether, has parking minimums. Houstonians can build a multifamily apartment building wherever they like, but they need 1.25 spaces for every studio unit, which is higher than Minneapolis’s […]
I’ve written previously about the angst and mayhem surrounding the parking situation at Blaine’s Lakeside Commons Park. To recap the history of this park and its parking situation: Lakeside Commons Park was opened in 2010 and built using standard set-aside land and monies from housing development in Blaine. The park has many features and […]
[…] eliminating parking requirements is not the same as a parking maximum, which is a policy already in place for some areas of central Chicago. The changes in parking minimums proposed in Minneapolis allow developers creating new units to adapt their parking provisions to the demands of expected future residents, not to arbitrarily build parking even […]
Reducing parking minimums (Source: City of Minneapolis)
[…] urbanism, which populates underutilized urban spaces with activity and generates enthusiasm and political support for permanent changes. Before any dirt is turned, use an existing Star Tribune surface parking lot to host an event. Bring in temporary trees and benches. Have a temporary beer garden and live music in the summer or ice rink in […]
Parking: By now, you will have heard about it. It’s sort of an amorphous and complicated issue, where, in the words of Bill Lindeke, “logic seems to twist and transform like hallucinated dragons.” It can be very emotional–in the space of a couple minutes, you go from flying through your world at fifty […]
[…] drinks coffee by the potful and another who doesn’t drink coffee at all–wouldn’t be required to subsidize the bulk purchase of 40 Keurigs for the entire building. Strict parking minimums make the assumption that everyone is living the same car-dependent lifestyle, thereby spreading the cost of car ownership to people who don’t own cars. This should trouble anyone […]
[…] the big oaks) on Saturday 9/11 for a picnic. Come to discuss the matters of the day: the election, public space, COVID, climate change, the end of parking minimums, new housing and development around the city, or anything else! Because we don’t know how many people might attend, it’s pot-luck style. Please bring a small […]