Here’s a nice quote from a blog called Saporta Report:

Parking causes sprawl. The vast amounts of parking required at locations push businesses and other uses further and further apart. Free parking encourages us to drive to the grocery store, and we insist on having ample amounts of parking.

As the amount and size of our parking lots decreases, our businesses can move closer together. A business that couldn’t previously open in a neighborhood as a corner grocery because of required parking minimums could now open to serve walk-up customers.

This is exactly right. Free parking is an enormous hidden subsidy to unsustainable land use practices and unhealthy lifestyles. It does all of us far more harm than good. If we eliminated these subsidies and let our cherished “free market” set a fair price on parking, the equation would be fundamentally changed.  The problem is that a majority of people still don’t see this. They perceive (correctly in many cases) that the way their community is designed, they would be unable to get around quickly or safely without a car, and they can’t envision their community changing its design, or living in another community with a different design. Even in places where walking and cycling are relatively safe and fast, like in or near Center City Philadelphia (see this Washington Post* article), and many people understand that 100%, the voices of the car culture are still louder and more politically influential at the moment. Here in Philadelphia, I see that being characterized in the media sometimes as an old vs. young, rich vs. poor, black vs. white struggle, which is very unfortunate because that is not what it is about at all. It is about health, safety, sustainability, community, competitiveness, innovation, and joy.

* Note that the Washington Post article above is unfortunately titled “Why cars remain so appealing even in cities with decent public transit”. It goes on to conclude that it can take a long time to get around by public transit, if you live far from your job. Then it concludes that walking and cycling are better than both driving and public transit, if you live near your job. But busy people who only have time to read headlines are likely to miss that point entirely, aren’t they?