Parking lots in downtown Richmond. Photo: Courtesy of Parking Reform Network
More than 20% of downtown Richmond is dedicated solely to parking cars.
What's happening: An organization called the Parking Reform Network has been mapping parking in downtowns across the country.
By the numbers: Richmond is about average, per the group, which estimates that about 22% of land in U.S. city centers is typically dedicated to parking.
Why it matters: There's been a nationwide push among urban planners to deprioritize parking, arguing it crowds out other uses like housing and creates dead zones in cities' most valuable areas.
Flashback: City leaders voted to strike minimum parking requirements from the zoning code earlier this year.
- But developers are still welcome to build as much parking as they want, and, in some cases, banks will set their own parking requirements as a condition of financing projects.
Zoom out: New York City (1%), D.C. (3%) and Chicago (4%) have the least parking downtown.
- The cities with the most are San Bernardino, California (49%); Arlington, Texas (42%); Lexington, Kentucky (38%); Wichita, Kansas (35%) and — drumroll — Virginia Beach (35%).
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