pARKING

Making Smarter Use of Land and Resources

This is the place to find information about adjusting parking requirements within the Downtown + Uptown and Surrounding Neighborhoods plan area. Explore the website and learn more about the benefits of eliminating off-street minimum parking requirements.

Many cities are rethinking outdated parking policies — and ours should too.

According to the Parking Reform Network, more than 2,700 U.S. cities have eliminated parking requirements for a portion of or the entire City. El Paso would join 30 other Texas cities to have eliminated parking requirements for an expanded geographic area. On-Street parking utilization is 27% occupancy for residential streets and 44% for commercial streets, suggesting significant parking oversupply.

Unlocking Uptown’s Development Potential

While El Paso’s downtown area allows developments to reduce parking through a special request process, it still requires more parking than people actually need or use, based on how many cars people own and how parking is used throughout the United States.

These expectations are a key strategy to facilitate new development in DT+UT, especially for affordable housing options.

  • The Downtown + Uptown and Surrounding Neighborhoods Master Plan calls for the development of ~10,000 housing units

  • Off-street parking requirements call for the reservation of otherwise buildable area for parking

FAQs

  • The Downtown + Uptown & Surrounding Neighborhoods Master Plan (adopted July 2023) calls for the development of ~ 10,000 housing units. Off-street parking requirements call for the reservation of otherwise buildable area for parking.

    Key Takeaways

    • Downtown has a lot of parking and has no off-street parking (too much) and has no off-street parking requirements

    • Uptown has even more parking AND less development

    • Parking hurts the City’s (financial) bottom line

    • Makes housing (and everything else) more expensive because the cost of “free” parking is bundled in the price of goods.

    • Building more units increases development profitability and decreases rents to offset development costs.

  • El Paso’s progressive steps to implementing parking maximums should be complemented by eliminating parking minimums, allowing owners who wish to build no parking — or to rely on Downtown’s larger parking market to meet customer and tenant needs.

    This, however, does not prohibit parking space desired by the owner.

  • By removing off-street parking requirements in the Downtown, Uptown and surrounding neighborhoods master plan area, the housing of people will be prioritized over automobile storage.

    Goals

    • Address Housing Affordability

    • Promote Housing Choice

    • Reduce or Remove Barriers to Development

    • Reinvest in Priority Areas

  • The city has applied changes to its code by implementing initiatives like the Parking Benefit District which supports the elimination of off-street parking requirements — freeing up land that could instead be used for housing, promoting efficient land use.