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CENTER CITY PARKING POLICY EVALUATION
Parking in Center City is a persistent and complex issue. As the accommodation of automobiles plays an increasingly important role in development, Center City is at risk of losing the scale and dynamism that is so essential to its attractiveness. Center City was not designed for automobiles. It is a welcoming and walkable place, especially compared to other cities whose downtowns are dominated by wide streets necessary to handle large volumes of traffic. However, many of the locations with which Center City must compete for economic activity are places that offer much cheaper and often more convenient parking.
Recent years have seen significant public opposition to the development of large new parking facilities, especially where such development involves the demolition of historic structures. Efforts to properly balance the desire of drivers for convenient parking with the need to protect Center City's transit and pedestrian-friendly characteristics have consistently confronted several issues, including urban form/quality of life, the cost of parking, and diminished support for transit.
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission hired a consultant team, led by Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, to assist in an evaluation of parking policies and regulations for Center City. The objective is to move towards consensus on a direction for parking policy in Center City. The evaluation included a review and analysis of existing parking conditions, interviews with nearly 40 individuals concerned with parking in Center City, and in-depth case studies of how four other communities have addressed this complex issue.
Click on the links below to view or download the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's Center City Parking Policy Statement (adopted June 15, 2006); the 10-page Executive Summary; the 176-page Final Report; the Parking Policy Matrix, a one-page summary of four alternative parking strategies for Center City; or the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Circulation, Parking, and Transit Study:
Have a comment on Center City parking issues? Send it to
parking@philaplanning.org or the postal mail address below.
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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Philadelphia City Planning Commission
One Parkway, 13th Floor
1515 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102
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