
Minneapolis Moves to Eliminate Mandatory Parking - tshannon
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/12/12/minneapolis-moves-to-eliminate-mandatory-parking/
======
troydavis
Comments by a few users (like “derp_dee_derp”) ignore that this isn’t
preventing people from building parking, it’s simply letting the market -
customers - decide how much they’re worth.

The closest analogy is a city requiring that all housing units contain at
least 2 bedrooms, then eliminating that requirement. 2 bedrooms will still be
available and, if they’re valued, will appreciate and then more will be built.

If buyers pay a higher premium for parking than for other uses of that square
footage and expense, developers will still build parking. This is the city
accepting that the city isn’t the best entity to decide how valuable parking
spaces are; buyers are.

~~~
derp_dee_derp
And your ignoring the fact that the Minneapolis metro area is a commuter city
and parking is already limited within residential areas.

Where are people going to park their cars if parking is not mandatory for all
these triplexes being built? There won't be enough space on the street and you
and I both know that developers will save costs by simply not building parking
for low or medium income housing projects.

So then you've got people who can't own a car because they have no where to
keep it, who are then reliant on the bus system to get to work.

Great,if the bus goes from your house to where you are working. Too bad it
doesnt most of the time.

This is a huge problem right now in north Minneapolis: there aren't a lot of
good bus routes running through the area that go to where the jobs are and the
people who live there that can't afford cars therefore don't have access to
good employment.

Sure, just do more routes, right?

There is already a shortage of bus drivers in Minneapolis and the transit
system is hemorrhaging money. How are we gonna pay for it?

Or maybe build more train lines?

We've already been planning the new sw metro line for a decade and surprise
surprise it's still not built.

The 2040 plan is not a good solution to the reality of the Minneapolis metro
area's problems at all.

~~~
gullywhumper
It sucks, but bus routes are being reduced because people just aren't using
them:

[http://www.startribune.com/declining-metro-transit-
ridership...](http://www.startribune.com/declining-metro-transit-ridership-
drives-bus-route-changes-set-for-dec-1/501209441/)

------
beat
As a Minneapolis resident, I applaud the work being done by the 2040 project.
As our population continues to grow (because My Town Is Better Than Yours), we
need to make real efforts to reduce traffic, increase housing density, and
reduce the disparities that lead to segregation.

------
RickJWagner
I hope they budget strongly for enclosed walkways.

Minneapolis gets very cold in the winter. Walking won't be pleasant in the
open.

~~~
beat
It's aggravating, because places where warm shelter makes sense (like major
bus stops), they discourage it, because they don't want to attract the
homeless. Sigh.

------
derp_dee_derp
for people reading this that don't live here, you should realize that
Minneapolis is very much a commuter city and a huge portion of people live in
the suburbs and drive to downtown Minneapolis to work. Minneapolis is also not
the only large city here: St. Paul is literally 20 minutes away. The whole
area that surrounds Minneapolis/St. Paul is called the Metro area and is
essentially contained by the 494/694 loop but many people live outside this
area in places such as Wisconsin and the Burnsville/Apple Valley area.

Very few people that work in Minneapolis actually live in Minneapolis.

Essentially this is just the city of Minneapolis making it harder for people
to get to work. This will result in a decrease in companies based in
Minneapolis without affecting the overall number of companies in the Metro
Area.

For example, 3M is based in the Metro Area but their campus is not in
Minneapolis.

Medtronic is based in the Metro Area but their campus is not in Minneapolis.

Boston Scientific is based in the Metro Area but their campus is not in
Minneapolis.

Overall this is a short sighted move by the city of Minneapolis that will have
lots of negative consequences and very few benefits.

~~~
aurailious
> Essentially this is just the city of Minneapolis making it harder for people
> to actually work in Minneapolis.

I'm pretty sure the idea is actually the exact opposite. Mandatory parking is
expensive, this drives up the cost of housing. 2040 is about reducing the
costs of housing and not making the same mistakes that San Francisco continues
to make every day. 2040 is about getting ahead of NIMYism and making sure
there is housing that is affordable inside the city so people _don 't_ have to
drive from the suburbs.

>very few people actually live in downtown minneapolis.

This way people can live closer to work and not have to drive cars. Its more
sustainable, its better for the environment, its better for people. So the
idea is to change Minneapolis into a city where people do live downtown again.

> a commuter city

The result of terrible city planning starting in the mid century that is going
to be expensive and difficult to undo. 2040 is a good plan that will fix this.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
I agree. I moved to Minneapolis 20 years ago and one of my first political
memories is of Jesse Ventura arguing that mass transit had to be improved
because building more roads just means that more people will drive. He was
right.

Parking is _horrendous_ in Minneapolis. I moved away and now live in rural MN
but take the bus into the city. It is far less stressful than driving and then
wasting time trying to find a place to park. Especially as the surface lots
are sold off to build apartments and condos. The parking situation will only
get worse.

If it weren't for MetroTransit, etc., building massive Park&Ride lots in the
far suburbs, many of us would refuse to even work in the cities, likely
causing an outflux of talent to better areas.

~~~
aurailious
I was never really a fan of Ventura, but he wasn't actually terrible.

