Restoring Prosperity
The Greater Ohio Policy Center Blog
St. Paul, MN is the latest major city to eliminate citywide off-street parking minimums in an effort to simplify zoning and facilitate people-centered development. St. Paul city council decided to nix parking mandates last month, meaning that new development will be able to proceed without any requirements for a minimum number of off-street parking spots.
Five years ago, Columbus was awarded a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in the “Smart City Challenge”; an initiative that was conceived as an opportunity to jump-smart the transition to a more technologically-advanced transportation network within a midsize U.S. city.
Transit is an invaluable resource in low- and moderate-income communities, connecting residents to job centers and services that may otherwise be inaccessible without a car. However, there are concerns that significant investments in transit, particularly rail transit, may increase property values and displacement pressures on area residents.
Interest in the proposal is running high across the state. Lawmakers at the Statehouse have been encouraged to support the effort (though initial development of the routes through Ohio would not involve state funding at all) while a number of cities, including Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, and Elyria have passed resolutions endorsing the proposal.
