No Parking Anytime: The Legality and Wisdom of Maximum Parking and Minimum Density Requirements

Abstract

This article focuses on two aspects of smart growth policy that have thus far received little attention: maximum parking and minimum density requirements. To ascertain the frequency of such regulations, we examine the zoning regulations of twenty-four mid-sized cities, defined as those with populations between 500,000 and one million residents. The article concludes that the first type of regulation is somewhat common, but is usually restricted to certain types of land uses or sections of a city. Minimum density requirements, by contrast, are quite rare and quite lenient. Because these types of regulations have received little scholarly attention and are often fairly recent, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions about their effects.

Keywords: density, parking, sprawl, smart growth, zoning, land use, urban planning