Simulator insights help Denver change its parking rules
Since 2022, we’ve been building tools to help policymakers around the country make effective decisions for boosting housing supply and affordability. Research partners at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation and UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies have published research using our Housing Policy Simulator, and city leaders in Los Angeles and San Francisco are using the tool to inform upzoning policies.
Most recently, we’ve been working with researchers at the University of Denver to explore the potential impacts of reducing parking requirements for new developments in the city.
Many cities and states around the country have taken up this question in recent years, theorizing that reduced or eliminated parking requirements could reduce development costs and incentivize additional housing construction. In 2017, Buffalo, New York became the first major city to fully eliminate parking requirements. Others quickly followed suit; as of 2025, 93 cities across the country have passed similar reforms.
For city leaders in Denver, identifying effective housing reforms is becoming increasingly urgent. The city’s population has grown nearly 30% since 2005, while the average home price has increased by 138%, with lower-income residents shouldering a high cost burden. A 2023 Common Sense Institute report estimated the city will need between 31,000 and 49,000 new housing units by 2028 to meet the needs of its population.
In December 2024, the City and County of Denver announced the Modernizing Parking Requirements project, aimed at promoting housing construction by removing minimum parking requirements from development regulations. In order to model the potential outcomes of this policy change, researchers from the University of Denver partnered with Terner Labs to estimate impacts on development probability using the Housing Policy Simulator.
The Simulator allowed researchers to model outcomes under multiple scenarios and economic conditions, using assumptions developed through extensive discussions with builders, developers, and lenders. The resulting whitepaper, “Examining Relationships Between Eliminating Parking Minimums and New Housing Construction Using a Terner Housing Simulator Tool,” found that eliminating the mandate could result in an average of up to 460 additional homes per year, a 13% increase from the report’s baseline assumption.
The report was cited in August 2025 testimony to the Denver City Council, which subsequently narrowly voted to remove the parking minimums requirement for new development. City staff recognized the report as an important piece of evidence for making the change.
Stefan Chavez-Norgaard, report co-author and assistant professor at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of Global and Public AffairsWhile not a silver bullet, eliminating parking minimums is a low-cost, pro-housing reform with measurable benefits. This simulator can be a powerful planning tool with applications beyond parking policy, such as zoning reform and affordable housing incentives.
There are no quick fixes when it comes to housing reform. Determining what levers to pull is complex, but it doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Denver’s example highlights multi-scenario modeling as an essential source of data for leaders hoping to make effective policy changes.
As we build partnerships with institutions in other cities and states, we are hopeful that the Housing Policy Simulator can offer helpful data to leaders considering permitting requirements, inclusionary zoning, and other policies.
Header image by Vincent Yuan
