Parking requirements for new construction are a hidden expense because they either take up space that could be a business or housing, making it harder or more expensive to build, or they require an expensive building to provide short-term auto storage (A 2016 study found that it cost roughly $24,000 to $34,000 to build every single new parking space in a garage). Yet for decades the default beginning of any development has been “what about parking for it?”
Concord, not coincidentally, is building a new parking garage for legislators.
new Hampshire Bulletin has an opinion piece saying that cities are starting to rethink this approach. Here it is.
Return to the Concord Monitor
In my opinion the parking problem will not be eased until adequate public transportation is available to relieve the pressure. This is lacking in all but larger cities – and even there it is spotty. Much US public transportation was disbanded after WW2 to promote automobile usage. For the present, we have to provide parking for those who must use automobiles.
One reason suburban and exurban malls have become popular is largely due to ease of free parking. Those urban parking garages costing that estimate of 24 to 34 thousand must be paid for, either by taxes or parking fees or a combination of both. The annoyance of urban street parking with its meters and awkward traffic negotiations is another feature driving people to malls and away from downtown. The parking offered in the suburban and exurban malls is on much less expensive land and does not need a structure – just a tarmac. Similar flat lots in urban areas tend to be very expensive.