No Parking Anytime: How Parking Minimums Impede Transit-Oriented Housing

When cities build dense housing around transit hubs and plan new transit stations to allow for nearby residential development, they’re often aiming to create more sustainable urban environments and bolster local economies. When cities build dense housing around transit hubs and plan new transit stations to allow for nearby residential development, they’re often aiming to create more sustainable urban environments and bolster local economies. However, achieving these goals requires city governments to rethink land-use and zoning policies in areas surrounding public transport stations. Parking minimums, in particular, can significantly impede TOD construction, locking prime real estate for transit-oriented housing behind sprawling parking lots. Eliminating or curbing parking minimums at the municipal level could open up considerable land for transit-oriented housing developments and build more sustainable urban communities.