It may surprise you to learn that almost every city and town in North America has laws mandate that drinking establishments provide parking for their patrons---despite the fact that, as Eric de Place at Sightline notes, "A single year of alcohol-impaired driving kills more Americans than the last decade of war ." By requiring parking for drinkers' cars, de Place notes, city land use codes "practically encourage" drunk driving.

Even "progressive" Northwest cities aren't immune. Vancouver, BC is actually one of the worst offenders, requiring one parking space for every 60 square feet of businesses that sell liquor for on-site consumption. (In fairness, de Place notes, Vancouver does exempt much of its city core from parking requirements). Seattle and Portland, meanwhile, both set minimum parking requirements for bars at one space for every 250 square feet. The "best" city, in terms of parking requirements: Boise, Idaho, which requires just one parking space per 300 square feet of bar space.

But de Place argues we could do better. His simple, but elegant, solution?

[Free] private property owners from the legal burden to use their land for parking instead of profits. ...

It’s really not hard. You just need the number zero. That’s how you make sustainability legal when it comes to bar parking. You find that section in your city’s land use code where it regulates parking minimums. You take a black magic marker, cross out what’s there, and then write in the word “none.” It’s that easy.

And it could be even easier. In the US, at least, the problem might be solved efficiently at the state level. Because local jurisdictions have government authority only as a condition of state approval, it should be possible for the legislature to make it illegal for municipalities to force parking minimums on bar owners. (Nota bene: I am not saying that parking at bars should be illegal; I’m saying that it should be illegal for cities to force bars to provide it.)

Lots more, including stats for many Northwest cities, here.