Do Americans have the right to free parking?

We certainly have enough cars to warrant the discussion...

Parking
(Image credit: (Frederic Soltan/Corbis))

I know what you're thinking: parking policy sounds like a tedious, unsexy, small-stakes squabble. But its economic, environmental, and social impact cannot be overstated. Plus, many Americans really care about parking. After all, we are a country with over 250 million registered passenger vehicles, and roughly 800 million parking spots. Not to mention that the average American spends 614 hours driving every year.

As parking battles are waged from city to city, some activist groups have begun to deploy diverse strains of "freedom" rhetoric to help advance their goals. (One group in L.A., for instance, has dubbed itself "The Los Angeles Parking Freedom Initiative.") This raises some questions: Is parking a right? Should Americans be provided with free parking? Should the government just quit regulating parking altogether?

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Rachel M. Cohen is a writer focusing on issues of urban policy and inequality. Her work has appeared previously in The Washington Monthly, The Baltimore Sun, Solitary Watch, Haaretz, The Daily Beast and The Forward.