Policy Brief #1: Minimum Parking Requirements

Minimum parking requirements force communities to build more parking than they want or need.

Minimum parking requirements greatly reduce housing affordability.

• Based on typical affordable housing development costs, requiring one parking space per unit increases total affordable housing development costs by 12.5%.

• Requiring two parking spaces increases affordable housing costs by 25%.

Minimum parking requirements cause urban sprawl and make communities less walkable. They also increase car use and carbon emissions. Because minimum parking requirements make driving less expensive and housing more expensive, cities get more driving and less housing.

Our takeaway: state and county governments should remove or reduce minimum parking requirements.