Parking minimums are strangling our cities. I moved to Austin in 2019 and watched developers bulldoze two walkable blocks to build a 40-story tower with 800 parking spots, even though the rail line is 200 feet away. We mandate car storage in every new building, yet we complain about traffic and housing costs. Should we abolish parking minimums entirely and let the market decide how much space cars deserve? My own condo building has 2.2 spots per unit and half sit empty every night, which is a massive waste of land that could have been housing. Maybe it's time to cap parking at what transit-oriented areas actually need.