Traffic studies usually make traffic worse. Why? Let's revisit a classic article, by UCLA Prof. @Donald Shoup. “How far is it from San Diego to San Francisco? An estimate of 632.125 miles is precise – but not accurate." 🧵

I’ve identified two things that make some people upset: 1️⃣ the threat of a chain store opening near them. 2️⃣ the threat of losing a chain store near them.

"Two advocacy groups used housing installations to call attention to the city's parking policies over the weekend." If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own.🙂

“In 2004, #London reversed its parking requirements, eliminating the previous minimums and putting new maximums on parking supply for all developments in the metropolitan area.” – Zhan Guo #ParkingAndTheCity, Chapter 16 books.apple.com/us/book/park...

When parking lots are topped with solar canopies, do researchers count that land as “occupied” by solar, or by parking?

Building new market-rate housing makes housing more affordable. Study after study has shown that to be true. But if your neighbor says otherwise, don't assume they're lying. Many – including many homeowners – are just misinformed.

Marblehead, Massachusetts may take the crown for America’s most intentionally prohibitive residential parking requirements... "There shall be 2 exterior parking spaces for each dwelling unit. Garage, carport or tandem spaces shall not be used to satisfy this requirement."

“Purpose in life has also been found to be associated with lower risk of stroke, suicide ideation, depression, anxiety, PTSD and cardiovascular disease, she said.” There’s a reason why parking reformers live so long.🙂

Learn about the National Zoning Atlas and how to use it to remove bad laws (like minimum parking mandates). m.youtube.com/watch?v=4SKW...

Four keys to reviving depressed cities: "We legalized multifamily housing as of right without public hearings, we eliminated minimum parking mandates, we created more mixed-use developments and we promoted a much more environmentally sustainable approach to development." – @sarabronin.bsky.social

The play here, if you're trying for political reasons to mollify homeowners afraid of losing their street parking, is to grandfather existing residents in with subsidized permits, while new arrivals (tenants + owners) are eligible but pay market rate. Eventually you'll just have market rate parking.

Happy #ParkingDay! Around the world, it's underway.

Autonomous driving systems should be required to prove that they can safely pilot an 8‘6“-wide vehicle on streets with 9 foot travel lanes. If they can, cities will save a great deal of money on asphalt. If they can’t, they aren’t fit for purpose.

After minimum parking mandates are removed, most new buildings still include on-site parking. If a business person mistakenly thinks otherwise, the right thing to do is to show them the evidence.

President Obama had it right. #Seattle should listen to him.

“The State of #Washington adopted a new approach to statewide parking reform that the Sightline Institute calls ‘the strongest statewide rollback of costly parking mandates in the US.’ The story is not just that the legislation is strong—it is clever politically.” www.cnu.org/publicsquare...

A “243-unit apartment building proposed for the outskirts of downtown #Fairfax is poised to become reality after the California Department of Housing and Community Development rejected the #Marin County town’s argument that the project requires an environmental study & planning commission approval."

We had a great keynote speech from North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong. He told me he would sign a bill to eliminate minimum parking requirements if that came to his desk. #yimbytown

“The breadth of support was the first key to saving parking reform, but four arguments made by those supporters seemed persuasive to the commissioners who voted down the amendment:…” #Bridgeport activists show us how to make the case for reform.😊

All across the country, natural experiments are underway. Cities are removing minimum parking mandates. Individuals are responding to this newfound freedom. If you are a student looking for a thesis topic, it's a great opportunity!

Building code reform is the next frontier for making housing affordable again: “San Francisco’s building code, unlike the state regulations, requires projects to conform to the building code on the books at the time they break ground, rather than the codes in place when the application is filed.”🧵

the City of Oak Forest city council repealed parking mandates citywide last night it looks like a clean repeal, cc: @parkingreform.org

The #Toledo, #Ohio, City Council “unanimously approved an amendment to the Toledo Municipal Code that would remove the specific minimum number of off-street parking spaces required and impose a maximum number of off-street parking spaces allowed for a development.”

“Motorists who slip through parking lots or side properties to avoid red lights and stop signs will soon face fines under a new #Napa ordinance intended to curb dangerous shortcuts in California’s Wine Country.” Napa is trying to solve a problem created, in no small part, by its own misguided laws🧵

"When it comes to parking, rational people quickly become emotional and staunch conservatives turn into ardent communists. Thinking about parking seems to take place in the reptilian cortex, the most primitive part of the brain,..."

To make homes affordable, cities must remove minimum parking laws. To maintain durable majority support for that, cities must manage curb parking, using prices and/or permits, to keep it readily available. Therefore, housing advocates must learn to manage curb parking. What happens if they don't?🧵

"Decades of overly restrictive policies have driven housing costs to astronomical levels, forcing millions of people away from jobs and transit and into long commutes from the suburbs. Today’s vote is a dramatic step forward to undo these decades of harm...” -- @scottwiener.bsky.social Amen.

“…the #SanFrancisco Planning Commission approved a plan Thursday night to allow for 36,000 new homes on the city’s west side and northern neighborhoods…”

#SB79, the Abundant & Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, will "set zoning standards around train stops, ferry terminals and bus rapid transit stops, allowing multifamily homes up to 9 stories and loosen height restrictions within a half-mile radius." Today was a great day for affordable housing!😀

The modern school bus is a big battery on wheels. Before and after the school bell rings, it rolls around. In between, it soaks up excess solar. www.thebuzzevnews.com/pge-electric...

Washington DC has had parking enforcement cameras mounted on street sweepers since 2009. They work wonderfully. If your city hasn’t done this yet, you should! ggwash.org/view/2233/st...

To successfully remove minimum parking mandates, cities need to manage curb parking, when and where necessary, to keep it readily available. No public transit is needed. #Montana seems to have recognized this.😎

Congratulations to Catie and all the other winners for their well-deserved awards! Read some of Catie’s fine reporting here: www.lincolninst.edu/publications...

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee approved a motion that could lay the foundation for ending harmful parking requirements for new development. @streetsblogla.bsky.social has the story.

Today, August 28, marks the release of The Shoup Doctrine, a book celebrating the legacy of legendary urban planning professor and economist Donald Shoup, who passed away earlier this year. 🧵

Good news! "Chicago City Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance eliminating parking minimums near public transit, allowing apartment developers to build without providing parking for tenants if their project is near a transit line." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Parking mandates raise housing costs, waste land, and reduce public spaces. Eliminating minimums makes cities more affordable, fair, and livable while improving transit, walkability, and equity. #ParkingReform #UrbanPlanning #AffordableHousing www.planetizen.com/blogs/135767...

🎉 Congrats to the Chicago suburb of Oak Forest (27,478) for fully abolishing their parking mandates! You love to see it 😎

Minimum parking mandates are going in one direction: down.

A small mountain of research has concluded that minimum parking mandates cause great harm. That mountain just keeps getting taller.

Does your governor talk about the importance of removing minimum parking mandates? If not, you’ve got work to do! Give him or her a call…

One of the great joys of being a parking reformer is that we don’t spend time squabbling about the scraps of land left over after a city devotes most of its public space to automobile storage. Need more room for bikes? 1. Reprice underpriced curb parking. 2. Convert excess parking to bikeways.

This will save many lives.

Wouldn’t it be something if #Toledo removed minimum parking mandates before a whole bunch of cities that claim to be “environmental leaders” get it done? www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2...