The Equity Factor

Cincinnati Lowers Parking Minimums

Cincinnati has substantially diminished its parking minimums. Could more development follow?

A sea of parking in Cincinnati. Credit: Matt Johnson on Flickr

This is your first of three free stories this month. Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles, webinars and ebooks.

Become A Member

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has approved an amendment to the city’s zoning code that drastically lowers parking minimums in the central business district and Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. The ordinance, signed on August 7, only requires .75 parking spaces per unit in residential buildings with more than 20 units.

That means a development with 32 housing units would only need nine parking spaces, according to UrbanCincy, a local urbanist blog. Developments with 20 units or fewer wouldn’t have to provide any parking spaces.

This is huge, especially in a city as car-centric as Cincinnati. Parking minimums, to put it lightly, are shortsighted and antiquated policy. They mean more congestion and take up valuable real estate where density or green space could go. In Austin, Texas, a restaurant almost closed because it didn’t have the required 50 parking spaces.

To be fair, some Austinites had complained about driving around the block three times to find a spot. But not everyone drives everywhere. Some people — and there are more every day — prefer to bike, walk and even carpool. By substantially diminishing parking minimums in the urban core, Cincinnati will indirectly encourage residents to embrace the neighborhood they live in. Or at least reconsider how many cars a group might need to drive to dinner or a ballgame.

Which is not to say that everyone who lives in the central business district will be preaching walkability and gallivanting around asking their neighbors to sign Change.org petitions for more bike lanes. These things don’t happen in a vacuum. But by lifting parking minimums, walking and cycling should become more normalized in Cincinnati. A proposed streetcar line would have higher ridership numbers, which means more development along that corridor.

And, as Matt Ygelsias writes at Slate:

The housing units will be more affordable than they would have been had a parking garage been included, and the owners of the parking lots will make some more money. As more parking lots are transformed into housing, the market price of a downtown parking space will rise. As it rises, the business logic of building more parking will become more compelling.

By liberalizing parking minimums, it could actually make business better for the owners of parking garages. Not that we’re out here trying to advocate stronger rights for parking mavens, but it sounds like a win-win, at least in theory. And besides, doesn’t it make more sense to see how much parking the market demands, rather than enforce specific numbers?

The alternative is to follow Detroit’s lead and make sure, come hell or high water, that every empty space in the central business district remains a parking lot.

More importantly, Cincinnati leaders feel that reducing the parking minimum will encourage more investment, as each parking spot can tack on between $10,000 and $25,000 to a development. The more development in the central district, the larger the tax base. Perhaps someday — if we want to get optimistic — that means a bustling, dense downtown.

Reducing parking minimums won’t necessarily have people flocking from the coasts for jobs on the shores of the Ohio River, but it could certainly change the habits of current Cincinnatians. And as those residents adapt to a more commensurate amount of parking, it might mean more development and jobs.

The Equity Factor is made possible with the support of the Surdna Foundation.

Like what you’re reading? Get a browser notification whenever we post a new story. You’re signed-up for browser notifications of new stories. No longer want to be notified? Unsubscribe.

Bill Bradley is a writer and reporter living in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in Deadspin, GQ, and Vanity Fair, among others.

Follow Bill

Tags: public transportationeconomic developmentequity factorparkingcincinnati

×
Next City App Never Miss A StoryDownload our app ×
×

You've reached your monthly limit of three free stories.

This is not a paywall. Become a free or sustaining member to continue reading.

  • Read unlimited stories each month
  • Our email newsletter
  • Webinars and ebooks in one click
  • Our Solutions of the Year magazine
  • Support solutions journalism and preserve access to all readers who work to liberate cities

Join 1096 other sustainers such as:

  • Gabby at $5/Month
  • Abigail at $10/Month
  • Gloria at $5/Month

Already a member? Log in here. U.S. donations are tax-deductible minus the value of thank-you gifts. Questions? Learn more about our membership options.

or pay by credit card:

All members are automatically signed-up to our email newsletter. You can unsubscribe with one-click at any time.

  • Donate $20 or $5/Month

    20th Anniversary Solutions of the Year magazine

has donated ! Thank you 🎉
Donate
×