Parking Minimums and Parking Garages

Did you know that Minneapolis and St. Paul are two of 18 cities across the country to remove parking minimums? Cities across the country are rethinking the repeal of parking minimums. These minimums, which require developers to include a minimum number of parking spaces in their projects, have been a staple of urban planning for decades. However, as cities continue to evolve and face new challenges, many are finding that the existing parking minimums are no longer serving the needs of their residents and are taking steps to repeal them.

Some other cities that have removed parking minimums include:

• Peoria, Illinois

• Buffalo, New York

• Raleigh, North Carolina

• Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Hartford, Connecticut

• San Francisco, CA

• Portland, OR

Even in cities that still have a parking minimum, developers are getting creative to deal with the land shortage, and still provide parking for apartment residents. A development in Denver, the Sheridan Station Apartments, is leasing 120 spaces in an adjacent public parking garage. Or the 1213 Walnut apartment complex in Philadelphia who “unbundled” their parking spots from the apartment rent, letting residents choose if they need a parking spot.

Other creative uses for maybe underutilized parking structures is urban agriculture. According to this article, one parking garage in Paris was converted to an urban mushroom farm!

It’s interesting to see how different cities around the nation and the world are approaching the changing parking landscape. Check out the article linked above for more information!