AB 2097 lowers housing costs and greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating minimum parking requirements within a half-mile of high-quality transit. It reduces housing costs by saving on construction costs that go toward building parking; it decreases greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging transit usage.
Minimum parking mandates are inefficient. LA County has almost two parking spaces per resident, including children. This is largely due to cities requiring a minimum amount of parking to be included in developments. Parking mandates are also costly: In LA City, each parking space adds about $55,000 to construction costs.
Removing wasteful parking mandates means more built square footage can go toward homes, and the cost to build each unit will be lower. These two effects combined will lead to greater housing production near transit and more walkable neighborhoods. Crucially, removing parking mandates especially helps make more subsidized affordable developments feasible, as they rely on limited public funding.
AB 2097 is not a ban on parking. It simply gives property owners a choice to provide parking based on real-life demand and provides an option for Angelenos to opt out of paying for parking they do not use. This will not only bring more homes to transit-accessible areas that are often rich in jobs and amenities but also encourage the usage of transit. It is a smart policy that addresses our housing affordability crisis as well as climate change.
Read our support letter for AB 2097
Authors: Friedman (D, AD 43)
Coauthors: Lee (D, AD 25), Skinner (D, SD 9), and Wiener (D, SD 11)
Co-Sponsors: California YIMBY, San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), Council of Infill Builders
Prior version: AB 1401
Suggested action: Help make housing more affordable by reforming parking!
