You may wonder what this has to do with you as a reader of this blog or what it has to do with commerce.
The other night, I wanted to go to an event at a theater on Divisadero Street (San Francisco). This is a very up-and-coming neighborhood with every sign of life from coffee shops to bars to new restaurants to boutiques etc. I drove in a radius of three blocks in every direction and never found a parking space. I finally drove home.
When I mentioned my experience to other people I found that it is common in San Francisco for people to give up looking for a parking space to attend a performance or important event and go home.
San Francisco has an official policy that is hostile to automobiles. New buildings are prohibited from having more than 1.5 parking spaces for every three living units. There are apartment buildings with 50 units and no parking spaces.
Bicycles and bicycle parking in parts of the city reduce the number of lanes for cars from four to two. Successful anchor stores have been banned because they generate too much traffic (and focus on the needs of poor people.) Taxis are unreliable and scarce. Buses are inadeqate and dangerous.
The consequence of this anti-car atmosphere and general policy incompetence will be to stunt artistic and retail activities. While these activities may move to more dangerous and desolate neighborhoods where parking is viable, it will generally serve as a damper on creativity.
In neighborhoods where retail vitality is important, that vitality will be stifled unless parking buildings are constructed.
This is a perverse way in which anti-car sentiment ultimately makes city life less interesting and less desirable.