In a win for transportation advocates and anyone who wants to live in a human-friendly city, Cleveland, OH plans to eliminate its minimum parking requirements for newly constructed buildings near...
In a win for transportation advocates and anyone who wants to live in a human-friendly city, Cleveland, OH plans to eliminate its minimum parking requirements for newly constructed buildings near transit corridors, including most of its downtown area.
Parking requirements add onerous costs to small and large businesses seeking to create commercial buildings. The requirements are not mathematically sound—for over a century, they’ve been completely arbitrary—and lead to excessive urban sprawl. Over time, this increases travel times between important destinations, reduces ground permeability, increases the “urban heat island” effect, wastes resources, wastes a lot of money, looks ugly, and encourages a form of car-oriented development that is hostile to pedestrians. In many cases, these pointless laws require developers to purchase adjacent properties, demolish them, and turn them into parking lots which sit perennially empty.
Cleveland’s plan will change all this. City planners hope to revitalize the downtown by infilling existing parking lots and not creating new ones. The city also plans to expand its bike network.
In a win for transportation advocates and anyone who wants to live in a human-friendly city, Cleveland, OH plans to eliminate its minimum parking requirements for newly constructed buildings near transit corridors, including most of its downtown area.
Parking requirements add onerous costs to small and large businesses seeking to create commercial buildings. The requirements are not mathematically sound—for over a century, they’ve been completely arbitrary—and lead to excessive urban sprawl. Over time, this increases travel times between important destinations, reduces ground permeability, increases the “urban heat island” effect, wastes resources, wastes a lot of money, looks ugly, and encourages a form of car-oriented development that is hostile to pedestrians. In many cases, these pointless laws require developers to purchase adjacent properties, demolish them, and turn them into parking lots which sit perennially empty.
Cleveland’s plan will change all this. City planners hope to revitalize the downtown by infilling existing parking lots and not creating new ones. The city also plans to expand its bike network.