Rantz: Seattle’s extremist parking rule aims to ban all cars

The Seattle Council’s recent attack on parking isn’t about housing affordability. They can pretend all they want but removing parking will actually make it more expensive for people who want to rent here. This is – and always was – a deliberate attempt to get you out of cars. And while you may think their heart’s are in the right place, this is small-minded thinking and environmental extremism.

Seattle council approves massive parking changes

First, let’s dispense with this phony concern about housing affordability. Progressive leaders have been in power while Seattle has become more expensive. Their policies don’t work and that’s been proven time and time again. Taking away parking to encourage more people to take transit is, of course, ludicrous if you think it’ll somehow dismiss basic supply and demand principles. People don’t own cars because they love paying the high parking rates and high car tab fees; people don’t drive because they enjoy spending 30 minutes going five blocks. Some of us own cars because we have to. Indeed, to afford rent in Seattle, some people drive between their two jobs across town that they otherwise couldn’t get to on time if not for their car. Not to mention taking the kids to practice and picking up groceries.

Beyond that, getting rid of parking actually makes Seattle more exclusive. A leading employer in Seattle is Amazon, right? Amazon workers are super-served with the best bus routes because they can afford to live in the Seattle neighborhoods with the best bus service. Amazon employees earn higher salaries than your average worker at, say, a restaurant or coffee shop; in other words, they make higher salaries than the people who can’t afford to live in Seattle – the ones the council claims to care about.

If Amazon employees are able to afford high rents, and already don’t use cars all that much (or even need them), getting rid of parking won’t bring down rent. Landlords will charge the market rate, which is ultimately defined by what people are willing to pay for the apartment. That’s tied to their own financial situation (the higher their salary, the more they can afford high rent) and the vacancy rate (the fewer open apartments, the higher the rents). Take away parking requirements doesn’t ultimately impact rent but it will make the few spots available more expensive (lack of supply drives up the cost of the spots).

If an Amazon employee is looking for housing, and there are still a few options available, it doesn’t matter if the developer doesn’t pay for the parking spots; they’ll still set rents based on what the richest person looking for an apartment can afford. So this still ends up pushing people out of the city or, even worse, makes them more reliant on cars to get them to their multiple jobs.

Councilmember Mike O’Brien, an environmental extremist, is pretty open about this being about getting you out of cars permanently.

“…the larger picture here is around access and climate change,” O’Brien tweeted. “We as a city have committed to dramatically reducing our climate impact. We will continue to fight climate change nationally, but we need to also take action locally that challenges us to make changes in our own lives. We have to figure out how we work towards a carbon free future. I believe the solution is not making more parking available, but instead, making sure people have access to reliable transit and mobility in ways that align with our climate goals of reducing emissions and car usage.”

Seattle rideshare fees could spike under latest council proposal

He wants to ban cars. All cars. That’s his goal. And it’s not just an unrealistic, extremist position that slaps working class folks in the face (I doubt his plumber takes the bus to his house to fix his pipes), but it’s backwards-thinking. We’re quickly moving towards automated cars, whether or not O’Brien likes it. As technology improves, so does our ability to mitigate the carbon footprint of our cars. It’s a shame a city that prides itself on our technological openness so easily spits in the face of the technology from an industry it doesn’t like. As that technology becomes available and cheaper, more of you will buy those cars. Too bad you won’t have anywhere to park.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz