Parking: The Big Picture

Parking affects people, transit, economic development, the environment, downtown plans, and much more. Downtown Redwood City has grown over the past few years, with a new retail-cinema complex, restaurants, shops, Courthouse Square, and over a hundred special events each year bringing a lot more people downtown.

Redwood City first introduced its demand-based parking program several years ago to reduce "cruising" and traffic congestion by distributing parking throughout the downtown. With additional new growth on the horizon, including transit-oriented development, housing, and new businesses, Redwood City is getting ready for the next phase of its parking program.

Click here to view the 2005 Downtown Redwood City Parking Management Plan. [pdf]

Background and References

Click on the links below for additional background information, viewpoints, and media coverage related to Redwood City's 2005 Parking Management Plan and its implementation.

New York Times: Gone Parkin' (are there environmental benefits to Redwood City's parking plan?)

Wall Street Journal: The Parking Fix

SF Chronicle: SF Plans Market Rates for Prized Parking Spaces (San Francisco may implement key components of Redwood City's innovative parking system)

Salon.com: We Paved Paradise (how Redwood City didn't)

Pedshed.net: Redwood City's Free Market Parking Meters (do they improve urban design?)

University of California Access Magazine: The Old Pasadena Story: Turning Small Change into Big Changes

Transportation and Land Use Coalition: Housing Shortage/Parking Surplus - Silicon Valley's Opportunity to Address Housing Needs and Transportation Problems with Innovative Parking Policies

StreetFilms Interview on The High Cost of Free Parking

NY Times: The Hunter-Gatherers, Parking Division (a fun look at the lengths that people will go to to get curbside parking in areas without effective parking pricing)

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