CINCINNATI — With fewer people driving in downtown areas since the beginning of the pandemic, there is a push in cities across the country to stop building new parking lots. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Cincinnati City Council is considering a proposal banning additional surface parking lots downtown 

  • Members of the council believe they already have enough parking and more would contribute to lower air quality and create a dead zone for pedestrians 

  • The proposal also looks to enhance and redesign current parking lots 

A city council committee held a public hearing on Tuesday to discuss a proposal that would prevent new surface lots from being built. The city already has 40,000 parking spaces in its downtown, and approximately 80% of them get used.

Supporters of the plan say more parking lots would create dead zones for pedestrians, lower air quality and enable car-oriented lifestyle choices. The proposed amendment aims to ban new parking lots and improve existing ones.

“It is long overdue for the City of Cincinnati to finally look at downtown and realize that others to development patterns emerged and that we don’t want to continue the cycle of the second one, which creates dead silence and interrupts urban fabric and vibrancy,” said Joshua Junker, a parking lot ban supporter.

“We really value our cars in Cincinnati and for good reason,” said Alexis Marsh, a parking lot ban opponent. “So I’ll continue talking to all of you about this, but we really do need consideration for where the cars park.”

The proposal is expected to get an official vote during the full city council meeting on Wednesday.