I think the problem is that this encourages sprawl. If there is no parking, people will go to a place where there is, i.e. some big box store in the suburbs a f

I think the problem is that this encourages sprawl. If there is no parking, people will go to a place where there is, i.e. some big box store in the suburbs a few miles from their large house with a garage. Mandating some minimum of off street parking in dense urban environments keeps cities dense. This is especially a problem in the midwest and west where land is plentiful and cheap. EDIT: Just to offer an example, I live in a small (100-200,000 people) in the midwest. About 30 years ago their downtown was pedestrian friendly. It had covered sidewalks (we're in the north) and narrow or no streets and it was also basically empty. You could go to the mall or Target 6 miles away and park. It wasn't until about 20 years ago when they started making it a bit more car friendly that it started to revive. People could now take their car downtown and walk someplace. Mixed use was the name of the game. It was perhaps about perception, but it was the parking that got people to come.