Patrick Siegman Profile picture
Aug 25, 2021 6 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Imposing minimum parking mandates on commercial land uses near transit makes housing scarce and expensive.

If you have difficulty envisioning why, try adding homes near this #Milpitas light rail station. See all this underused asphalt? It’s all required by law. Image
Here's what a #Milpitas light right station area looks like on the ground.

To get here, take the #VTA light rail line to the Alder stop. Then, trudge north through a sea of parking. ImageImageImageImage
#Milpitas could instead manage curb parking near the station, using prices and permits, and remove its costly minimum parking regulations. Many cities have already done this. Image
If #Milpitas removed its costly minimum parking regulations, it would increase regional housing affordability, while reducing traffic, pollution, and vehicle crashes. We’d all benefit. But cities like Milpitas have, for decades, failed to act. Our state legislature must step in ImageImageImageImage
If our state Senators pass #AB1401, converting these underused #Milpitas rail station-area parking lots to housing will be financially feasible. ImageImageImageImage
#AB1401 will be up for a crucial vote tomorrow. Call your senator today!

cayimby.org/email-ab1401/

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More from @PatrickSiegman

Nov 25, 2023
Owners of even the cheapest fleabag motels know they must keep track of how many rooms they have & whether they are empty or full.

But today, the year’s busiest shopping day, most retail areas won’t be tracking how many parking spots they have & whether they are empty or full.🧵 Image
This helps explain why so many cities have ill-advised parking policies that frustrate customers, damage economies, waste taxpayer dollars, worsen traffic jams, and, all too often, end with motorists brawling over parking spots.

Let me suggest a few solutions. /2 Image
When I lead studies of retail districts, like downtown #VenturaCA, business owners, managers, planners, & politicians often tell me that their shopping area has a “parking problem”. They’re usually right. But what is the nature of that problem? /3 Image
Read 25 tweets
May 22, 2023
My thanks to @EskSF for his tireless reporting on @sfdbi’s corruption, @FBISanFrancisco for raiding the dept & helping force out its corrupt boss, & to @Scott_Wiener for passing #SB828.

Thanks to all this, SF is finally implementing digital permitting! /1
missionlocal.org/2023/05/sf-pla…
Why did it take an @FBISanFrancisco raid to finally implement digital permitting in #SanFrancisco? /2
Maybe 'cuz if it “eliminated a system in which forests’ worth of papers are pushed from one desk to the next, it would’ve ruined the cottage industry of connected permit expediters who...always manage to get their folders placed on the top of the pile”/3
missionlocal.org/2021/02/san-fr…
Read 4 tweets
Aug 27, 2021
For centuries, Americans built compact, walkable, neighborhoods. They provide affordable shelter & let us meet many daily needs without getting in a car. They're a great American tradition

Today, we took a big step toward making that tradition legal again
qz.com/2052284/califo…
Here’s a traditional fourplex at 203 Bryant St, #PaloAlto. It’s on a 5000 sf lot. That’s 35 homes per net residential acre. At that level of compactness, people walk a lot more & drive a lot less.

This is the kind of traditional American housing that #SB9 will make legal again.
As the @SierraClub’s John Holtzclaw explains, “This study suggests the following actions to reduce our dependence on the automobile, afford us more transportation options, reduce congestion buildup and reduce air pollution:…”

Source for graphic & quote: sierraclub.org/sites/www.sier…
Read 4 tweets
Jul 21, 2021
“After eliminating parking requirements, monthly rent in the average #Minneapolis studio apartment fell from $1,200 to less than $1,000.” #AB1401
nhregister.com/opinion/articl…
“As the leader of one of the state’s largest parking authorities, Park #NewHaven, I’ve come to learn a lot about parking. Our business model rests on the notion that parking is better when shared & the cost of parking should be borne by people who want to drive.”

A good policy.
“Zoning laws have the opposite result. They impose the cost of parking on nondrivers — and on all of us. Zoning mandates on parking make the cost of construction — and housing — more expensive."

True.
Read 5 tweets
Jul 18, 2021
Thanks to California’s new accessory dwelling unit (#ADU) laws, homeowners can help solve our housing shortage. It’s legal now.

But wait, there's more! In cities like #Pasadena, these same laws are making it easier and cheaper to build an addition.😃🧵
pasadenanow.com/main/council-c… Image
Under #Pasadena’s current code, “any addition to an existing residence…of over 150 square feet triggers a requirement to provide two covered spaces within a garage or carport.”

Left: addition legal!
Right: no asphalt, no addition...😢 ImageImage
Instead of managing the curb parking actually owned by the city, #Pasadena planners found it easier to force every homeowner spend tens of thousands of dollars pouring concrete & building garages.

Has this added to Pasadena’s historic charm? ImageImage
Read 7 tweets
Jun 12, 2021
My mom & dad bought their first house in #PaloAlto for about $16,000. At the time, it cost about 5 cents per hour to park downtown. Today, that same house would cost ~$3 million & it’s free to park downtown.

We have completely solved our affordable housing problem–for our cars🧵
In 2019, surveyors counted 313 homeless people in #PaloAlto, up 99% from 2013. They found no homeless cars.

cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/p…
How did #PaloAlto become a city of expensive housing and free parking? In 1951, Palo Alto adopted a new zoning ordinance. The new law limited housing and required parking.

cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/p…
Read 28 tweets

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