Parking comes at a cost. In Greater Boston, a surface level parking space costs roughly $10,000 to build, while underground parking and separate parking structures are even more expensive. These costs are then passed on to renters and homebuyers in the form of higher rents and sales prices. There is also the cost of losing valuable space to parking. Land that could be used for more homes or open green spaces in our communities is instead used for paved asphalt.Â
In Boston, we are building more parking than is needed. As part of their Perfect Fit Parking study, researchers at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council surveyed 55 multi-family developments with an average of 135 units per development. This was done to assess how much parking was provided and how much was actually used. They found that these buildings built roughly 0.75 spaces of parking per unit, but only 0.5 spaces per unit were being used. This means that hundreds of spaces of parking are sitting empty, wasting land that could be utilized to improve our city.Â
These problems are not new, which is why the City removed minimum parking requirements for income-restricted housing in 2021.Â
Be a part of the solution by signing this petition today to allow more parking flexibility in Boston. Instead of wasteful mandates, giving homebuilders and property owners the flexibility to add parking based on residents’ actual needs makes more housing possible and keeps costs lower. This flexibility is key to enabling the homes we need to maintain our bustling main streets and local businesses. By removing barriers like minimum parking requirements, we enable updates and new uses for our infrastructure that allows us to welcome new residents to Boston.