>>1942773>>1941698This also is a story in Tampa right now.
https://www.cltampa.com/news/a-third-of-downtown-tampa-is-parking-lots-city-planners-say-they-are-actively-trying-to-fix-that-16187293>A survey of land use in downtown Tampa, Florida reveals that one-third of the area is taken up by parking, a finding echoed in a recent similar study of Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, 6,000 of 24,000 downtown parking spaces went unused during peak hours>According to the article, “Since 2020, Tampa City Council has approved over 100 rezonings where the number of parking spots was waived below what the code required. Last year, the city controversially slashed free parking in Ybor City by 26%. Council has also approved amendments to the downtown zoning code and is working with the Mobility Department and Parking Division to draft a Parking Master Plan to address the parking issue.”>Across the bridge, St. Petersburg’s Transportation and Parking Management Director Evan Mory told CL that the Sunshine City is softly and systemically reducing the number of surface parking lots; replacing these lots with structured parking as well as re-purposing the land for more people-friendly spaces. He cites the Pier as one of the most recent and ambitious projects; the city took 750 surface and street parking spaces and reduced these down to 525. They used the space for the splash pad and playground that children now enjoy at the new Pier.>But Mory also added that “surface parking lots are good place holders; they’re consistent income for the city and they keep property taxes down. Until the city can figure out how to better develop the lots, surface parking isn’t such a terrible use of the land.”It's good to see that more cities and towns are waking up to the fact that parking garages and most surface parking is a waste of land and space that can be better used for more retail, housing or even greenery. Maybe all the above.
