Paved Over: Surface Parking Lots or Opportunities for Tax-Generating, Sustainable Development? (2006).
By Albert Benedict, Carrie Makarewicz, Jacky Grimshaw, Scott Bernstein, the Center for Neighborhood Technology
This study of the Chicago region examines the potential development benefits that could be achieved through more intensive use of surface parking near transit. Investigators compare current economic and social costs of surface parking lots near rail transit stations with the potential benefits if they were developed instead into mixed-use, pedestrian friendly, transit-oriented developments. Site-specific development scenarios were created for Metra Rail parking lots in nine Metra-served suburban communities in Cook County, Illinois. The estimates in these nine scenarios show how the parking lots, if used more efficiently, could generate substantial new residential units and commercial space, thus greatly increasing property tax revenues, estimated in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.