To fight climate change and housing shortage, Austin becomes largest U.S. city to drop parking-spot requirements
Story by Joshua Fechter •
12h
Austin on Thursday became the largest city in the country to stop requiring new developments to have a set amount of parking — a move aimed at both fighting climate change and spurring more housing construction amid the city’s affordability crisis.
The Austin City Council voted 8-2 Thursday to wipe out minimum parking requirements for virtually every kind of property citywide. That includes single-family homes, apartment buildings, offices and shopping malls.
Housing advocates, developers and climate activists across the country have increasingly targeted such rules. They say parking requirements — often referred to as “parking minimums” — drive up housing costs while enabling dependency on cars, a major source of carbon emissions.
“I think that it's hard for reasonable people to really defend those mandates anymore,” said Tony Jordan, co-founder of Parking Reform Network.
Major cities have scaled back those requirements in recent years while others like Portland and Minneapolis have gotten rid of them altogether. San Jose, which has only a few thousand fewer residents than Austin, did away with the requirements last year.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/to-fight-climate-change-and-housing-shortage-austin-becomes-largest-u-s-city-to-drop-parking-spot-requirements/ar-AA1jhVJx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=6046590588304cc9beeb01009794ca37&ei=35
