How Denver Repaired Its Epic Parking Crater
“In the 1990s, in response to the creeping cancer of surface parking, the Mile High City took action. The city changed its downtown zoning to eliminate surface parking as a use by right. So if you owned a building, you were welcome to tear it down, but you couldn’t park cars on the lot. All existing parking lots were grandfathered in.
Many of the lots in the 1976 photo were created by urban renewal campaigns in the 1960s and 70s. “The urban renewal authority would just come in and bulldoze dozens of blocks as a slum clearance program,” said Ken Schroeppel, of the blogs Denver Urbanism and Denver Infill.
But there were other forces at work as well. During the 70s and 80s, says Schroeppel, “[Downtown] Denver went through a big development boom.” A lot of office towers were built, but the city code didn’t require attendant parking. “You had this huge influx of downtown workers without the parking to accommodate them.””
Schmitt, Angela. DC Streets Blog 13 May 2013.