Parking cars: Missoula debates current needs, future trends
The debate over parking with new development is everlasting in Missoula, where land is both limited and expensive. Using it to park cars is costly, and it may fall out of vogue as ride share and public transportation grow to provide new mobility options.
Purchased for a breathless $1,700 per square foot; or $1.65 million for a tear down(!) in the third quarter of 2019, plans to raze the uninhabitable 950-square-foot Portola District home that sits on a nearly 10,000-square-foot lot at 666 Hamilton Street have been drawn. And if approved by Planning next week, the parcel...
Converting Garages for Cars into Housing for People
The United States has a large supply of residential garages that could be converted into affordable apartments. Unfortunately, off-street parking requirements prohibit converting most of these garages for cars into housing for people. Converted garages in single-family neighborhoods are variously called second units, accessory dwelling units, garage apartments, granny flats, and backyard cottages. To convert a garage into an apartment, off-street parking requirements typically force a homeowner to replace the two garage parking spaces with two new parking spaces, plus an additional off-stre...