![Parking Garage NYC Gagliardi Photography shutterstock](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=27e199e3546fe5e52cfbe0cbf31f740fe61fc46c27e2989a5c97d2bbc477126e 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=629d27d768e52c935cf16c3ae172b89b9bff951d54df5e405a77d60da7a08bcd 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=fa35d89049c64b6d6697c21de2e6d30000a8c0e35a82fdb4982bd899798f4f75 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=b5f57aec7cb12ed6cc36becaae7f41b2e15fcbeee25c4da2057801cafdcbdefe 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=6b487b89a7546b32e4865ee0b496f2d7719b1edb3c379369f0c4c85b7af0fd43 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=7db25d9b132d09563fcf7f47e9e5a387ac507e0f05ab65a5e86db8dadff9febe 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=78b9f8bf99cfb858073fc8cea263ccf2d71f577837cd8c0da553f67c7a65da6c 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=293b54e6dca38cf1261ad3c4c0a5ebc4649969435fa3e5cebbc2b29aa6bb521c 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/Parking-Garage-NYC-GagliardiPhotography-shutterstock.jpg?bossToken=efcb197ab46383da167dc204873e56101886c10778d316bdb24610fced5197b9 1543w)
Other cities in the northeast have taken bold actions in repealing parking requirements for new buildings. Last December, Boston repealed parking requirements citywide for affordable housing developments. More recently, the City of Cambridge removed its requirements for all new buildings, not limited to residential or those with affordable housing.
Parking requirements—often referred to as “minimum parking requirements” or “parking minimums”—are ratios set by municipal zoning codes that require the construction of a certain number of parking spaces per a certain number of housing units or overall square footage constructed. In practice, parking requirements mean that a developer must earmark a certain portion of development funds, and a portion of the parcel area, for parking facility construction and maintenance. By lowering or waiving parking requirements, greater percentages of budgets and parcel areas can be used not for parking facilities but more housing units, better addressing our city’s housing shortage. This trade-off better serves the needs of city residents. More than half (54%) of New York City households do not own a car. Meanwhile, 46% of NYC residents responded to a recent survey that affordable housing is the most important issue in addressing inequality.
Regional Plan Association (RPA) analyzed the impact that reduced minimum parking requirements have already had on housing development, in the limited contexts in which they have been employed. We found that where parking minimums have been abolished, it has not only encouraged overall new housing production, but yielded a greater number of affordable units annually compared to geographies where parking minimums remained in place. In other words, amending zoning codes toward the citywide abolition of minimum parking requirements can enable more robust housing production, both affordable and overall.
![J2 R shutterstock NYC Parking](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=774a013f71bbd954caae31798053386dd7e6d92748769b97550d6d16877b5bf4 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=046fb498f50942601040b4f674c7675a31c74d5ac349f31778d4038c04517e4a 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=6bae599d642718db667318b54ed5fcb7e5a2da47a1db80a891e579e21d124fdc 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=62010372d386e347534057b2ec0081ed5f979ee6830ce565d0270c77b8e6918e 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=f5d9818a682094a9c1b63724cd41883924676a83a37a787d58db5d3b08c7f73b 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=e66896c8e516c4821f4bb7f433f36d24533ceb6e55f5b3d1d3c887c0cd101804 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=4c375610c91e584ab08a5fc5e3c5a17f43132a82b5fa46717576d6c2c9b25ae0 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=2156290e8d30348de817a150600cafcca28032788c533d31356fa6203247250f 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/J2R-shutterstock_NYC-Parking.jpg?bossToken=ade43c4e878670a4943c287277befeef9691a1219df877ec562b9a4c670677a4 1543w)
New York City eliminated parking minimums in the core of Manhattan (below 96th street on the East Side and 110th street on the West Side) in 1982 in the context of the Clean Air Act amid the desire to reduce emissions and improve air quality. In 2011, the City further exempted much of Long Island City from parking minimums. The City has made more recent efforts, too, particularly for affordable and senior housing. The largest step forward came following Mayor’s De Blasio’s 2014 plan, Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan.
The Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) amendment to the NYC Zoning Resolution, adopted in March 2016, was another policy supplement that gave affordable and senior housing production a particular lift. Among other provisions granting more flexibility to bulk, height, and floor area for new buildings, ZQA waived parking minimum requirements for affordable and senior housing within certain districts found to be rich with transit options and only a half mile from a subway station throughout (dubbed the “Transit Zone”). In addition to waiving parking requirements for new affordable housing, ZQA also made it easier for parking at existing affordable housing developments to be eliminated within the Transit Zone, as long as ensuing construction was affordable or supported the existing affordable development.
RPA looked into the city’s housing production data to help determine how the degree to which eliminating parking requirements through ZQA furthered affordable housing. We focused on new construction only, even though some provisions of ZQA can facilitate affordable housing preservation as well. To understand citywide patterns of affordable development around the passage of ZQA, we examined the data for new buildings and units citywide that were constructed using Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) funding. LIHTC is a state-administered, federal tax credit mechanism that is often indispensable for making affordable development financially feasible for developers.
Since ZQA’s passage at the end of Q1 of 2016, the annual number of affordable units introduced to the Transit Zone housing market has shot up. When comparing housing productivity in the aggregate Transit Zone areas post-ZQA until the Coronavirus pandemic (which interrupted regular development), to pre-ZQA times, production of new affordable units rose by 36%. Units with the deepest affordability rose most precipitously, with a 64% increase in units for 50% AMI households and a 63% increase in units for 30% AMI households.
Because the Transit Zone area is relatively large geographically and encompasses most of the areas in the outer boroughs where denser development is allowed, it was already the largest contributor of newly constructed affordable units citywide. The passage of ZQA bolstered this trend even further, with the Transit Zone’s share of newly constructed affordable units rising from 63% in 2015, to 74% in 2016, and to 81% in 2017. While the share declined after 2017, this was due mainly to an increase in overall affordable housing, rather than a decrease in affordable units built in the Transit Zone.
There was an even more significant rise in the number of LIHTC buildings developed in the Transit Zone after parking requirements were waived, indicating a pattern of increasing development of smaller buildings. The rise in LIHTC building development in the Transit Zone has continued over the years, shifting development to the Transit Zone and away from other areas of the city where parking requirements remain. In addition to the geographical shift in LIHTC-driven development, with the gross majority of LIHTC building development now clustering in the Transit Zone, the city has seen more new LIHTC buildings (and units) overall than it did in the pre-ZQA context.
![IMG 0890 cropped](https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/300/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=9a60a48d425d8238e8ee4dd967c7a2eebdf94336ab22e4df5e00bbc0b5c83873 171w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/600/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=3ad77b8fd7df07ed1e4f87596316d8309ce810fde9bf9783825a7ba25e2bd1bb 343w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/900/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=8fb65389ce713846e7c2a58632ffb213502ff18f42348a12e9af25df34653e64 514w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1200/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=3f483ef4e15fbdb01324647ef2484a71e05849c5024a46d38ece0483cc15c6b9 686w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1500/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=b9ff51193f6d2032d5216d0ec442d9cb7323a48efe07343c50df02ef7965ca0e 857w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/1800/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=c920e28628d0dc23920193313044582c2b9365ded4a57ad574b22cb812849f44 1029w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2100/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=37de693d32f86bd3b2ae86dcc64a4a63a61ee75ee2b171170becb3c0f3db0c03 1200w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2400/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=8c0e3bc5dadd67492d7d03fce6ac81553b32b02018342fd154dc6d1f2c045c28 1371w, https://img.imageboss.me/general/width/2700/quality:80/work/Reports/2022-reports/Parking-Policy-is-Housing-Policy/IMG_0890-cropped.png?bossToken=cbf933113678e5a20c23ed6bc0a74dd45deb077ecbd438274df294b8533eb5ec 1543w)
This demonstrates that the elimination of parking requirements in the Transit Zone under ZQA has unlocked more possibilities for mid-size parcel development. Before ZQA, in order to make a development financially feasible, affordable housing developers needed to acquire parcels large enough to accommodate parking facilities and zoned highly enough to allow for high-unit count design. After ZQA, mid-sized lots have become developable as well. In this way, ZQA has been especially effective in incentivizing the construction of mid-sized LIHTC buildings and lots. After ZQA’s passage, new LIHTC buildings in the Transit Zone are more plentiful but smaller on average, falling from an average of 97 total units, to 59 total units, to 50 units following the Coronavirus pandemic. The new feasibility of these smaller buildings also enables smaller developers, often M/WBE firms or nonprofit housing providers, to have access to more development opportunities.
The shift toward smaller developments correlates with a shift of LIHTC-driven development away from Manhattan Core and Long Island City – which already had eliminated parking minimums—toward the newly created Transit Zone areas after the passage of ZQA. Total development in Manhattan Core/LIC fell from around 5,200 units in 23 buildings in 2015 to around 2,300 units in 13 buildings in 2017. This shift may be because of the lower market of the new Transit Zone, where affordable housing development is able to compete more easily for sites with market-rate development.
The shift toward more affordable development in this area is noteworthy. In years before ZQA’s passage, LIHTC-driven building development in the Transit Zone area at times comprised between 29% and 36% of the city’s total LIHTC development. Once the Transit Zone was formalized, the area attracted significant amounts of affordable development, accounting for three-quarters of city-wide LIHTC buildings in both 2020 and 2021, more than doubling its share of affordable building contribution in four years.
RPA recommends the following actions:
- Expand the boundaries of the Transit Zone, and incorporate additional transit-rich areas that were initially excluded during the ZQA negotiations in 2016. A new Transit Zone should also include areas served by Select Bus Service and places where the MTA is redesigning and improving bus networks for more frequent, dependable service.
- Expand the types of developments that are exempt from parking requirements, including extending the waivers to all market-rate residential development via the yet-to-be-defined City of Yes text amendments.
- Change zoning incentives that encourage more affordable or senior housing to ensure the amount of affordable housing does not fall short of goals. This would be especially helpful in a scenario where market-rate housing is exempted from parking requirements.
Conclusion
Through this retrospective analysis, RPA has observed that the ZQA parking reforms had a positive effect on the number of affordable housing units introduced to the city housing market since the policy was enacted in 2016. Further, waivers of parking requirements may have unlocked the potential for affordable development on smaller parcels, bringing the potential for affordable development to parcels within the Transit Zone area that would have previously been passed over, making affordable housing more feasible citywide. Parking waivers, however, were just one component of the reforms that the ZQA put into place.
The zoning text amendment also modified use, height, and bulk requirements on a citywide scale, giving greater flexibility for building new affordable housing projects. Future studies can help determine whether parking waivers were the most significant drivers galvanizing affordable housing development in the Transit Zone after the ZQA’s passage. A similar retrospective study would examine developments through a comparative zoning analysis (pre- and post-ZQA) based on regulations controlling bulk, density, and lot cover requirements. This would provide more relevant insights when formulating future housing policies and programs, and help determine focus areas within them.
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