The Shoup Doctrine

Donald Shoup's groundbreaking work on parking reform has transformed how urban planners approach one of the most mundane yet consequential aspects of city design. In a recent episode of "Booked on Planning," author Daniel Baldwin Hess discussed his book, "The Shoup Doctrine: Essays Celebrating Donald Shoup and Parking Reform," which brings together 37 contributing authors across 33 chapters to explore Shoup's legacy and the current state of parking reform.

What makes Shoup's work so revolutionary is his ability to transform a seemingly boring topic into one of the most influential movements in urban planning. As an economist by training, Shoup viewed every parking instance as an economic transaction—whether the cost was direct or indirect. His landmark book, "The High Cost of Free Parking," published in 2005, challenged the conventional wisdom that parking should be abundant and free, arguing instead that this approach creates hidden costs that damage our cities and communities.

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The core of Shoup's parking reform philosophy consists of three key principles that cities across America are increasingly adopting: remove minimum parking requirements from zoning codes, charge market rates for curb parking, and establish local parking benefit districts where parking revenue funds neighborhood improvements. This approach represents a departure from decades of car-centric planning that has required developers to build vast parking lots regardless of need or context.

Buffalo, New York provides a compelling case study of successful parking reform. In 2017, Buffalo became the largest city at that time to completely remove minimum parking requirements from its zoning code. Research conducted by Hess found that following this change, about half of new developments reduced their parking footprint, with parking lots cut by approximately 50% on average. Most notably, this reform enabled the construction of apartment buildings with no off-street parking—developments that would have been impossible under the previous zoning regime.

What makes parking reform particularly appealing from a policy perspective is that it's essentially a form of deregulation that costs cities nothing to implement. Unlike most urban planning initiatives that require new programs, budgets, staff, and websites, removing minimum parking requirements simply eliminates a regulation. This can actually streamline the development process by reducing the need for parking studies and zoning variances, making the entire system more efficient.

The momentum for parking reform continues to build across the country. Cities like Hartford, San Jose, Birmingham, Raleigh, Sacramento, and even Mexico City have followed Buffalo's lead in eliminating minimum parking requirements. States like Oregon and California have passed legislation restricting parking requirements in areas served by public transit, suggesting a potential shift from purely local reforms to regional or statewide approaches.

Despite Donald Shoup's passing in February 2024 at age 86, his ideas continue to gain traction. The growing community of "Shoupistas"—devoted followers of his parking philosophy—are advancing his vision in cities across America. As more communities implement his reforms and demonstrate their success, the movement appears poised to continue growing. The question is no longer whether parking reform will happen, but rather how quickly it will spread and which cities will be next to embrace the Shoup Doctrine.