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I'm not entirely sure I follow the logical argument: regulation is relaxed along transit arteries, allowing developers to build and sell more units there at mar

I'm not entirely sure I follow the logical argument: regulation is relaxed along transit arteries, allowing developers to build and sell more units there at market rates, thereby keeping the market prices in check; that's great. But I would assume someone capable of paying market rates, typically still owns a car. That car still needs a parking space, so even if the owner does not use it for his daily commute, the presence of the car still has an impact. I would furthermore assert that many if not most middle class citizens living alongside good transit do not actually use it for work, because of the complexity and inconvenience. It certainly seems that way and the article puts forward no hard numbers. So there should be a marginal decongestant effect from encouraging high density in those areas, but the same rules could be applied everywhere for an even stronger effect on market prices. The task of the mayor then becomes to get transit to those newly developed areas and keep congestion down; not to coax developers to build where transit is - they will do that by themselves simply for the market premium transit options afford to their investments.

droopyEyelids 8y ago
Chicago is definitely enough of a 'big city' that people choose to forego car ownership. I work in an office of developers, and people only tend to get a car once they have kids, and then they only have one car for the family.
- jawilson2 8y ago
  Yep. I am a dev, and my family has one car (Honda Odyssey) out in the suburbs. The Metra is pretty incredible, and I get 1.5 hours of remote work done on it a day.
- bigpicture 8y ago
  I own two parking spaces in a private garage on the edge of downtown - have one car and rent the other space. 5 years ago, I could rent it for $300 per month with a waiting list of people that want it. Today I am renting it for $200 per month and it would take a week or so to find a new tenant. In that time, my neighborhood has grown considerably and has become much more expensive. Multiple car ownership (or ownership at all) just isn't that desirable any more and Chicago's relaxation of minimum parking requirements are very much market-driven. Parking costs a lot of money to build and takes up a lot of space in a building. Because there is nothing preventing a developer from building more parking than required, he or she has the freedom to match market demand. There is a 50-floor, ~500-unit apartment building under construction in my neighborhood that, due to its proximity to a train station, was required to build exactly 0 parking spaces. The developer chose to build around 75.
- Izkata 8y ago
  After college, I actually moved from the Chicago suburbs into the city in part because I don't like driving and didn't want to get a car. It's worked pretty well.
spamizbad 8y ago
> But I would assume someone capable of paying market rates, typically still owns a car. That car still needs a parking space, so even if the owner does not use it for his daily commute, the presence of the car still has an impact. I can't find the study, but there's actually some data to back up what you're saying regarding TODs -- people generally still cling to their cars despite living close to public transit. But it's not necessarily a black-and-white issue. You have to look at actual miles driven to get a clear picture. For example, I live in Chicago near a CTA Blue Line station and Metra Station. We've have gone weeks without using the car. We drive, maybe 2,500 miles/year, with a chunk of that visiting my father up in Wisconsin. But we'd never give it up since we have a kid and that just makes things easier.

droopyEyelids 8y ago

Chicago is definitely enough of a 'big city' that people choose to forego car ownership. I work in an office of developers, and people only tend to get a car once they have kids, and then they only have one car for the family.

jawilson2 8y ago
Yep. I am a dev, and my family has one car (Honda Odyssey) out in the suburbs. The Metra is pretty incredible, and I get 1.5 hours of remote work done on it a day.
bigpicture 8y ago
I own two parking spaces in a private garage on the edge of downtown - have one car and rent the other space. 5 years ago, I could rent it for $300 per month with a waiting list of people that want it. Today I am renting it for $200 per month and it would take a week or so to find a new tenant. In that time, my neighborhood has grown considerably and has become much more expensive. Multiple car ownership (or ownership at all) just isn't that desirable any more and Chicago's relaxation of minimum parking requirements are very much market-driven. Parking costs a lot of money to build and takes up a lot of space in a building. Because there is nothing preventing a developer from building more parking than required, he or she has the freedom to match market demand. There is a 50-floor, ~500-unit apartment building under construction in my neighborhood that, due to its proximity to a train station, was required to build exactly 0 parking spaces. The developer chose to build around 75.
Izkata 8y ago
After college, I actually moved from the Chicago suburbs into the city in part because I don't like driving and didn't want to get a car. It's worked pretty well.

spamizbad 8y ago

> But I would assume someone capable of paying market rates, typically still owns a car. That car still needs a parking space, so even if the owner does not use it for his daily commute, the presence of the car still has an impact. I can't find the study, but there's actually some data to back up what you're saying regarding TODs -- people generally still cling to their cars despite living close to public transit. But it's not necessarily a black-and-white issue. You have to look at actual miles driven to get a clear picture. For example, I live in Chicago near a CTA Blue Line station and Metra Station. We've have gone weeks without using the car. We drive, maybe 2,500 miles/year, with a chunk of that visiting my father up in Wisconsin. But we'd never give it up since we have a kid and that just makes things easier.