Parking Policy and Downtown Economic Development

Abstract

For many years, the role of parking policy in most U.S. cities was to accommodate the automobile commuter by providing convenient spaces to park. Recently, however, many cities have begun to use parking management strategies as means of achieving a wide variety of community objectives, ranging from improved air quality to increased neighborhood amenity. This paper examines the use and impact of such strategies in fostering downtown economic development. The impact on economic development of four kinds of parking strategies—those that control the aggregate level of parking supply, the access to parking, the spatial distribution of parking supply, and the price are described in detail. Case studies of parking policies in Baltimore and Seattle are used to illustrate the different role of such policies with relation to economic development. An examination of the characteristics of the developer decisionmaking process leads to a conclusion that although the provision by government of parking space does not play a central role in development decisions, it can play a significant supporting role.