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Even places with public transit good enough that you don't have to have a car (ex: Somerville MA, where we live) generally require off street parking. Setbacks
by jefftk 7y ago
Even places with public transit good enough that you don't have to have a car (ex: Somerville MA, where we live) generally require off street parking.
Setbacks are not the same as sidewalks. You can allow buildings to run right to the sidewalk without pushing pedestrians/wheelchairs into the street.
- dhimes 7y agoIndeed. I tell people that what the world knows about urban development comes from mistakes made in MA. I live here too. Not in Somerville- I’m up in Marblehead- but I moved from Gaithersburg MD. At first I was annoyed by the regs when I moved to MD, but then I came to understand why they are there. I love big brother...
- jefftk 7y agoI'm not sure what you're saying; I don't think Somerville should require parking (though if you choose to build units without off-street parking I think there should be ineligible for on-street parking).
- dhimes 7y agoSo only people without cars would buy them? Do you think a developer would risk only selling to that market? It seems like that would limit what they could sell the units for, and as a buyer I would have to think carefully about being able to re-sell the unit.
- jefftk 7y ago> So only people without cars would buy them? I expect so. About 16% of Somerville households don't have a car (according to the census). > Do you think a developer would risk only selling to that market? Some developers would choose to build off-street parking anyway, even though it's not required, and that's fine. I'm saying we should remove the requirement to build parking. > It seems like that would limit what they could sell the units for, and as a buyer I would have to think carefully about being able to re-sell the unit. This is another way of saying that the units would be cheaper. That's a good thing!