New trend eases parking requirements for U.S. cities

In recent years, cities including New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and Fayetteville, Ark., have reduced or eliminated required parking spaces on major developments.

Many of these developments are located near mass transit stations and/or are affordable housing projects. In New York, the city eliminated parking requirements for low-income, “inclusionary” (with some units going to low- or middle-income families), and affordable senior housing developments that are within a half-mile of mass transit.