In an article by Slate Magazine, Tom Vanderbilt explores whether planning policies mandating a minimum number of parking spaces when building urban and semi-urban areas is really a good idea. These policies took hold around the 1960’s, meaning they do not factor in the other forms of transportation that have developed since then and the initiatives of environmentally people to utilize them. Creating large parking lots fragments urban areas and makes walking unpleasant or impractical, which in turn leads to more people driving and then can lead to the need for more parking lots.

Some cities have already begun reducing the number of policy mandated parking spots, such as in Columbus, Ohio where they have reduced parking minimums for malls by 20%.

Parking lot in Downtown Baltimore