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Comment by snrplfth | Hacker News Reader

But you said it yourself - the way to solve the externality is to forbid them from parking on the street. How is that so difficult? Rather than the government trying to plan the optimal amount of parking for every possible time and use and density, they can just say, "don't park on the street. Figure out your own parking requirements."

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Let me refer you to this part of my comment: "A parking lot is not a high value salable area for a property developer and so unless he is building it for the 1% who value and pay a premium for such, there is no incentive for him to do so"

You appear to be commenting from the POV of the US or Canada where land is plentiful and people build independent houses in towns and suburbs.

In the cities I mention, owning an independent house means your wealth is in tens of millions of dollars (mere millionaires would struggle to afford independent houses). The average middle class person is very much dependent on developers constructing multi storey apartments - and it's not in their economic interests to solve for parking requirements unless compelled as I explain above.

I live in a metro area of 6.5 million people. The level of condo/apartment tower construction is huge, and is the majority of housing growth in the region. Developers demonstrably do construct parking - even expensive-to-build underground parking - but generally they do not demand to build more than they need. Recently a tower was finished, directly above a subway station, without any dedicated parking for 400+ units. All the units sold, no problem, because those buyers don't have or want cars. Other towers are built with parking, but frequently the minimum required. Indicating that it's not in high demand for that tower.

The cost of building a parking space doesn't evaporate just because it's required by the government. And builders will include parking if it's in sufficient demand, just as they include any other amenity in their buildings.

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