Strong Towns National Gathering: Learn How To Fight Parking Mandates From the Experts

(Photo source: Unsplash/Raban Haaijk.)

Parking, or, more specifically, mandates to include it in residential and commercial construction, plays an outsized role in the struggles of North American cities. These arbitrary requirements prevent small businesses from opening and homes from being built; they fill our cities with wasteful, empty space; and they drain the financial productivity of our neighborhoods. Strong Towns is so committed to repealing parking minimums we’ve dedicated one of our core campaigns to the issue. Now, attendees at our 2023 National Gathering (May 30–31 in Charlotte) can hear directly from some of the most knowledgeable and effective advocates on this issue.

Tony Jordan and Jane Wilberding of the Parking Reform Network will explain the adverse effects of parking mandates, celebrate the substantial momentum for reforming them, and teach you how to organize and build a coalition for parking reforms in your city. Armed with this knowledge and understanding, you’ll be a more effective advocate to explain to local leaders and citizens why this is such a vital issue for towns and cities across North America.

The Parking Reform Network has been a valuable Strong Towns partner and contributor. Check out some of their most persuasive calls to action from our archives: 

A New Way to Look at Minimum Parking Requirements

“The simplest way to integrate parking reform in a zoning code is simple: ‘There are no provisions that establish a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for development for all land uses.’ This is easy to implement, clear for readers to understand, and a tremendous advancement in making your city more livable.”

What Comes Next After Abolishing Parking Mandates?

“To build the type of cities we want, to take advantage of zoning reforms that re-legalize compact, walkable, and transit-rich neighborhoods, we have to continue to pursue comprehensive parking reforms that go beyond repealing minimums and actively combat car-dependency. Fortunately, these additional reforms and strategies are also simple, impactful, and fiscally advantageous.”

Parking Mandates Map

Check out the ever-growing roster of North American cities that have repealed parking minimums in this detailed interactive map. It’s also a valuable tool to show skeptical leaders that this is an increasingly mainstream approach to address the harms of car-centric zoning. 

Interested in attending to learn more? It’s time to meet your movement. Sign up for the Strong Towns National Gathering.

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