Parking has become a major conversation in the effort to boost housing development.
Longstanding mandates that require a designated number of parking spots for new development, which drive up construction costs, are being targeted at the local level. San Francisco became the first major city to end parking minimums in 2018. In 2021, Minneapolis cut parking mandates citywide to spur housing. Dallas last year drastically reduced its parking minimums for large developments and ended them entirely for housing with fewer than 20 units.
As the housing crisis continues, states are stepping into the parking lot conversation as well.
“Unused parking spots add millions of dollars in costs and severely limit the number of new units that can be built affordably,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in his State of the State last week, proposing statewide parking reform. “Spaces for cars are being prioritized over spaces for people.”
Here are three state-level parking reform efforts to keep an eye on.
1. Colorado
Colorado made headlines for its state-level efforts to cut parking mandates for multifamily buildings in 2024 — and not always for positive reasons. Several cities are suing the state, citing overreach. One study found that parking mandates exist on 85% of residential land in Colorado. Denver, the largest city in Colorado, eliminated parking mandates for new development last August, a move that could boost development in the city by 12.5%, according to a Denver University study.
2. Washington
Washington last year passed its Parking Reform and Modernization Act, which applies to cities with populations over 50,000. The new statewide standard goes into effect in 2027 and prevents cities from requiring more than 0.5 parking spaces per unit for multifamily housing and more than one space per single-family home. “Washington needs more affordable housing — a lot more,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a statement last year after signing a number of affordable housing reforms. “We must make it easier, faster and less expensive to build housing of all kinds.”
3. Connecticut
Following a back-and-forth with local governments, Connecticut passed its parking reform in November. The legislation eliminates minimum off-street parking mandates for new housing development with 16 units or less — a compromise from the 24 units or fewer that was originally proposed, CT Mirror reported. “Connecticut’s housing shortage is among the most severe in the country,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in November. “Simply put, the status quo is unsustainable.”
