Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Donald Shoup

Point/Counterpoint: Parking Reform Now or Later (or Never)?

What better time than Park(ing) Day (or should I say "Parrrrking Day") to break out a fascinating piece from the magazine known as Parking Today, "the leading publication serving the diverse needs of
today's parking industry."

The trade pub recently ran a debate between parking planner Don Norte and performance parking guru Donald Shoup. Norte contends that cities shouldn't adopt reforms like off-street parking maximums until they have reached a certain level of density and transit service:

Once a city or region has achieved transportation efficiency byaccommodating the number of trips generated by the appropriate mode oftravel, then the option of reducing minimum parking requirements acrossthe board can truly become a positive and cost-effective solution forour policymakers.

But holding off on parking reform will only interfere with cities' attempts to become more walkable and transit-oriented, responds Shoup:

Every developer knows that cities' minimum parking requirements areoften the real limit to urban density. Minimum parking requirementsoften force developers to provide more parking than they wouldvoluntarily provide, or smaller buildings than the zoning allows.Off-street parking requirements do not promote a walkable andsustainable city. Instead, off-street parking requirements promote adrivable and unsustainable city.

If West Hollywood or any other city waits until there is excellentpublic transit before it reduces its off-street parking requirements,most people will continue to drive everywhere, even if Santa Clausmiraculously builds the transit system.

If planners insist that cities must have good public transitbefore they can reduce their off-street parking requirements for everyland use, cities will never get good public transit. The smartest stepcities can take is to convert all their minimum parking requirementsinto maximum parking limits, without changing any of the numbers.

More from Shoup, including plenty of observations that apply to parking reform in New York, after the jump.

City planners have no professional expertise or training to set parkingrequirements. They don't know how much parking spaces cost at any site,and they don't know how the parking requirements affect development orthe transportation system. City planners also know little about theeffects of parking requirements, but they are expected to know exactlyhow many parking spaces are required for every land use.

In trying to foretell the demand for parking, urban plannersresemble the Wizard of Oz, deceived by his own tricks. No one shouldblame planners for dispensing the elixir of ample free parking,however, because everyone wants to park free. Nevertheless, plannerscan be faulted for their pretension to special skills in dealing withparking. Planners cannot predict parking demand any better than theWizard of Oz could give the Scarecrow brains or send Dorothy back toKansas.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

More Tantrums: City Halts 34th Street Busway After Threat from Trump DOT

The feds threatened to cut city and state funding if New York doesn't halt all work on the 34th Street busway so the FHWA can review the project.

October 17, 2025

READY, AIM, ‘MISFIRE’: NYPD’s Bike Speed-Limit Effort Only Adds Confusion in Central Park

Two slowly ambling pedestrians were clocked at 19 miles per hour. So what's the point of this, exactly?

October 17, 2025

Friday Video: Drool Over This London School Street

That's cricket! Check out how London transformed a roadway around a big stadium into a play street.

October 17, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Queen James Edition

State Attorney General Letitia James gave our national security desk reporters Dave Colon and David Meyer the ultimate hat tip. Plus other news.

October 17, 2025

Judge Orders Trump to Restore $34M in Security Funding to MTA

DHS overstepped its authority when it attempted to tie money from the Transit Security Grant Program to the Trump administration's efforts to deport immigrants, Judge Lewis Kaplan said.

October 16, 2025
See all posts