411
Chicago will no longer require new buildings near transit to include parking.
(chi.streetsblog.org)
this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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They build some not-so-affordable apartments near my friend's house that has a parking garage underneath and is a short walk from mass transit. But the parking garage isn't included in rent, so everyone was parking on the street until the town started ticketing people who parked in front of houses they didn't own.
Even in this case, people are too stupid or selfish for the "free market" to work properly. Personally, I don't see an issue with forcing apartments to have a parking garage underneath, even if it's just for bikes and scooters.
If there is plenty of free on-street parking, then the free-market was working properly.
Tragedy of the Commons.
There was not "plenty" of parking. That's why the town had to step in and start enforcing the parking rules that were ignore before.
Tragedy of the commons doesn't apply to parking because the parking still exists after exploitation. The public utility must degrade (the parking spots disappear after using them) for the tragedy of the commons to apply.
DrunkEgnineer is correct: in a free market with two prices for the same item, the one with the lowest price will be sold first. There was plenty of free on-street parking, so the paid parking was not preferentially picked.
Parking rules can also be enforced with money and not who owns the private property next to the public property. That is, charge for street parking at the supply-demand equilibrium.
@pc486 @Duamerthrax Parking does degrade though. Lots need resurfacing and sometimes stabilization to prevent sinkholes and garages can collapse altogether. We're already starting to see serious structural problems with decks built in the mid-late 20th century that are buckling from a combination of age, lack of maintenance, and not anticipating that they'd be filled with oversized SUVs and pickup trucks, many with electric batteries making them even heavier.
Parking is not a finite and limited resource. Road surfaces can, and regularly are, refurbished and established. That's why parking is not a tragedy; it's not a resource that is lost forever.
I think you do bring up a good point though: who pays for parking lots and street parking when it does need help? Is it only the home owner in front of the street or is it a general fund expense from local sales taxes? Double points if you can answer who is then allowed to park in that publicly-paid parking spot.