Parking cap in San Francisco

Most communities have minimum parking requirements, which leads to the self-fulfilling prophecy that everyone will drive everywhere because the parking lots themselves create a gulf between buildings.

In San Francisco, there is now a CAP on the number of spaces a developer may include in a project.  On residential projects, developers may only provide three spaces per four units, or .75 spaces/unit.  (Nationwide, it is more common to see a MINIMUM of two spaces per unit, or one space per bedroom. ) 

Also, the San Francisco ordinance requires that parking spaces be sold separately from dwelling units, which acts as an incentive to the homebuyer to remain auto-independent.  In addition, it can result in a purchase price savings of up to 20% per unit per space, a nice benefit in the country's costliest housing market.

San Francisco also requires one bike parking space per two housing units. (which actually sounds a bit low to me)

For full details, check out New Urban News, September 2006, 11:6, p. 10.