Parking

Bird's eye view of downtown Bremerton with the marina and some midrise buildings in the foreground.

Bremerton Becomes Latest Washington City to Ditch Parking Mandates

On Wednesday, Bremerton ditched parking mandates, letting builders choose housing over excessive parking. Following in the footsteps of cities like Spokane, Port Townsend, and Bellingham, the move sets Bremerton up to prioritize housing needs and improving multimodal travel options.

Port Townsend Just Quietly Ditched Its Off-Street Parking Mandates

Small but mighty Port Townsend appears to be the first city in Washington State to have fully ditched its off-street parking requirements.
Shoreline North 185th Street station from the platform with an apartment building under construction

Shoreline Votes to Ditch Parking Mandates, Legalize Neighborhood Cafes and Stores

In approving a unanimous update to its Comprehensive Plan, the Shoreline City Council is set to go well beyond the minimum requirements of state law in pursuit of creating additional housing options and more vibrant neighborhoods.
A sign on an apartment building indicating the parking entrance

Seattle Set to Double Down on Arbitrary Parking Mandates

Despite being a longtime parking reform leader, Seattle is set to require off-street parking, even as it unlocks significant housing capacity near transit. This will make housing harder to build.

Spokane Just Ditched Parking Mandates. What’s Stopping the Rest of Washington?

Cities across the country are ditching arbitrary requirements around how many parking spaces must be built with new housing, but Spokane is the first major Washington city to take the plunge. Will others follow?
An aerial photograph shows the port city of Bremerton from a height of nearly 10,000 feet.

Bremerton’s Enlightened ‘JCTP’ Plan Seeks to Break Free of Car Dependence

JCTP is Bremerton’s 30-year transportation vision. It gets a lot of things right, but has some gaps. The Joint Compatibility Transportation Plan (JCTP) is a...
Bird's eye view of downtown Bremerton with the marina and some midrise buildings in the foreground.

Bremerton Considers Bold Housing Reforms in its Comprehensive Plan Update

Reforms being considered by Bremerton as part of this year's major planning update include eliminating parking mandates, removing height limits in downtown, and expanding neighborhoods where additional density is allowed.

The High Cost of Parking in Downtown Bellingham 

When what is now downtown Bellingham was initially platted in the mid-1800s, it is likely that little consideration was given to parking. Mostly because...