I would like to voice my enthusiastic support for Diversity Oak Park’s call for an expanded Inclusionary Housing Ordinance [A new housing ordinance, Viewpoints, Jan. 3], and recommend an additional policy change that will be necessary to make it successful: the elimination of minimum parking requirements for new development.
Parking uses up valuable square footage without generating any revenue, forcing multifamily housing developers to cover those costs through increased rents. A single parking space in a parking structure can cost $50,000 or more.
By giving developers flexibility to include less parking onsite, it will be more economically feasible for them to comply with such an ordinance and use that valuable square footage to house people instead of cars.
Research shows that low-income households generally drive less compared to higher-income households — unsurprising given the cost of car ownership and maintenance has ballooned to an eye-popping $12,000/year. We are incredibly lucky that Oak Park offers better access to transportation than many neighborhoods in Chicago, with access to the el, CTA buses, Metra and Pace, and even Divvy bikes in the Austin neighborhood. By building apartments with less parking, we will attract residents with fewer cars who drive less — a win for traffic congestion, the environment, and local businesses.
Eliminating parking minimums became a national trend last year, with even NPR reporting on the wave of zoning changes across the country as cities from Austin to Anchorage seek to “end up with less parking, more affordable housing, better transit, and walkable neighborhoods.”
If a car-centric city like Austin, Texas can eliminate parking minimums in the name of affordability, then surely a dense, urban, walkable, and increasingly unaffordable community with plentiful transit access like Oak Park can.
More affordable housing, a more diverse community, less traffic congestion, more pedestrian activity and a growing and vibrant community? Sounds like the Oak Park I want to live in.
Sources:
“From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. Cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums,” https://www.npr.org/2024/01/02/1221366173/u-s-cities-drop-parking-space-minimums-development
Parking Reform Network: www.parkingreform.org
Nicole Chavas
Oak Park