What is the case for having parking minimums? (i.e. Mandating a certain number of parking spaces in new developments.) I guess the argument is that if you don't require developers to build it, they won't build enough. And then people will not have parking and so they will be forced to park on the street somewhere. This might annoy the incumbent residents, who will in turn complain, and so it is best and safest to just to build a lot of parking.

This is pretty much the only reason that I can think of for why a city might want to maintain parking minimums. Because, what's the worst thing that could happen if you didn't build enough parking? In the best case scenario, the developer builds fewer parking spaces and people are fine with it. This is ideal because it means people are getting around in other ways: walking, cycling, taking transit, and/or using car share. So it is the most sustainable outcome!

A bad scenario would be that the developer builds too few parking spaces, nobody will rent the spaces, and then goes bankrupt. This would be very bad for the developer; however, it would be a lot less of a concern for the city. The developer is the one who screwed up. Too bad for them. So when I see new transit-adjacent developments -- like this one here in Burnaby, BC with 14 levels of below-grade parking -- one can't help but think: WTF!

To be clear, this is not a criticism of the developer. I don't do that sort of thing on this blog. This is a criticism of parking minimums. They are so last decade. And I'm even being generous with this timeline.

I was having a conversation this week with a few friends in the industry about the future of parking. We were specifically talking about Toronto, but I would imagine that much of this holds true for many other cities around the world.

Here in Toronto, it's not uncommon to see new parking spaces in central locations selling for upwards of $200k. For those that are not in the industry and not seeing the work and immense costs that go into building parking, this often comes as a surprise.

But as I have said many times before on the blog, parking is often a significant loss leader for new developments. Even at relatively high prices, most developers aren't covering their costs. So developers naturally aren't racing out to build more of it. They're trying to build just what is absolutely necessary for the market.

Given the strong incentives to build less parking, it's no surprise that parking ratios continue to decline. But consider some of the other parking headwinds:

• Parking minimums are (hopefully) set to be removed

• Push toward watertight undergrounds across the city (higher costs)

• Tipping fees for disposing of contaminated soil (higher costs)

• Increasing development charges / levies (higher costs)

• Introduction of inclusionary zoning (higher costs)

• Inflationary construction cost environment (again, higher costs)

There is a lag between changing cost structures and what the end consumer sees and feels. Junction House, for example, is fully tendered from a construction standpoint and so we are building with a kind of historic cost structure that would be impossible to replicate today. When the next project comes around, they'll have higher costs and will have to price their homes accordingly.

As rising costs and new policies (like the ones I mention above) begin to work their way through the system, I think it's fairly obvious that parking ratios will continue to be one of the first things that gets looked at and ultimately chopped down. This will make parking even more scarce in the city and surely far more expensive.

(Back in 2018, Hong Kong had the record for the most expensive parking spot in the world. I wouldn't be surprised if it still holds this title.)

But as I have argued before, I am of the opinion that building around the car is not the way to build big and well-functioning global cities. Many of us recognize that we need to focus on alternative forms of transport -- everything from public transit to new micro-mobility solutions. And given where costs are going, I don't think we'll have much choice.

Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash

For the last year or so the City of Toronto has been doing a review of parking requirements for new developments. This would include things like how much car and bike parking needs to be provided for each residential unit in a new building. More information on this work can be found here.

City staff are now preparing to release their initial findings and, as I understand it, it is going to include the removal of most minimum parking standards across the city and the introduction of some maximum parking standards. What this should mean is that in most cases you can build as little parking as you want, but in some cases you'll be stopped from building too much of it.

There are lots of examples of other cities doing this. Buffalo is one example and I recently wrote (over here) about what happened to new developments once its minimums were eliminated. Among other things, it revealed where the previous parking requirements were overshooting what the market was actually demanding.

Urban parking is heavily dilutive to new developments. It drives up the cost of new housing. It is also hypocritical to claim that we want to encourage alternative forms of mobility while at the same time mandating that we build a certain amount of car parking. Do we want people to drive or do we want people to do other things? Which is it?

Some will bemoan this inevitable loss of parking (though it was already happening). But I think this is a great thing. It is Toronto growing up and continuing to realize that it's pretty damn hard to build a big and well-functioning global city if everyone is driving around everywhere. Maybe one day we'll even allow e-scooters.