“Minimum parking requirements make it difficult to design and build places for people, rather than cars,” at least according to this article. The author argues that parking rules result in more pavement and space between buildings and less useable space for development or redevelopment. As a solution, he supports no parking requirements in order to make cities more people friendly- meaning more walkability and proximity to similar types of businesses. The lack of requirements would also lower development costs and rents for these commercial buildings.

Cities in South Carolina, Arkansas, and Oregon have adopted this thinking and are seeing positive results. Other cities have reduced parking requirements or allowed developers to determine parking needs on their own. So how would this concept work in Tucson? While it seems natural in the downtown area, could it be expanded to the rest of the city? Let us know your thoughts below!