Aparkalypse Now in San Francisco

Taking a graphic, novel approach, SF Weekly reports on a ballot initiative that it says would reverse San Francisco’s progress in prioritizing people over parking.

“Aparkalypse Now” says the initiative, backed by Gap clothing store founder Don Fisher and condo developer Webcor, is being promoted as a way to save downtown San Francisco from gridlock by raising the number of parking spaces allowed for residential development. Without the additional parking spaces, supporters claim, industry will eventually flee for more car-friendly locales, leaving San Francisco a “no parking ghost town.”

However, says the Weekly’s Matt Smith:

Fisher’s so-called “Parking for Neighborhoods Initiative” wouldn’t do
very much to make it easier to park in the city. But if successful, it
would go a long way toward making it harder to get around by car, bus,
on foot, or by bike. It would eliminate new affordable housing all over
the city. And it would contribute significantly to congestion, to urban
ugliness, and to smog.

Here’s more from the Bay-Guardian:

Under the proposal, new housing projects throughout the city would be
required to provide a minimum number of parking spaces per unit,
whereas the 2005 law turned parking minimums into maximums. Studies
have shown that the city’s existing policies will lower housing costs
and encourage transit use, but developers oppose the law because they
say homes with parking spots are what buyers want and are willing to
pay extra for.

Image: Matt Smith/SF Weekly