Myths About Parking Are Holding San José Back: Here’s What We Can Do About It
If you’ve ever driven in San José and thought, “There’s never any parking,” you’re not alone. But here’s the thing: it’s not true.
San José actually has an estimated 1.9 million parking spaces, which comes out to nearly two per resident. In the heart of downtown, city-owned garages typically sit just 30–50% full, even on weekdays. The issue isn’t a lack of parking. It’s how we’ve prioritized it over housing, businesses, and safer streets.
At Transform, through our SPOT SJ initiative, we’re working with community members to make more efficient use of existing spaces, create more vibrant streets, and reduce the cost of housing, starting with parking myths that undermine our city.
4 parking myths
Let’s dive deeper into four of the most common misconceptions about parking.
We don’t have enough parking.
Despite what it feels like, we have more than enough. Downtown garages like Market Street & San Pedro Square and the Convention Center sit around 40% full on average. The problem lies with our expectations and a lack of signage rather than actual capacity.
Free parking is free.
It’s not. The cost of the overabundance of parking spots is passed on through higher rents, more expensive retail prices, and missed opportunities to build affordable housing or green space at a time of co-occurring climate and affordable housing crises.
Businesses need front-door parking to survive.
We routinely walk the length of a football field in a mall or Costco lot without thinking twice. There’s a sense of relief to being able to see your destination from where you park, even if you are walking farther than when you park a block or two away from your destination in a dense downtown. The quality of the walk to your destination also impacts the parking experience. A safe, shaded, and pleasant street can turn a stroll into an enjoyable part of the trip. When cities improve sidewalks and make streets more inviting, people are more willing to walk a block or two from parking.
Curbside space must be reserved for parking.
Curbside spaces can be adjusted to serve different needs, such as outdoor dining, loading, or pickup and drop-off areas, particularly when parking demand is lower, like during certain seasons or off-peak hours. Smart curb management pilots, like the one launched by the San José Department of Transportation in 2024 with 800 monitored curbside spaces throughout downtown, are meant to provide a more accurate report of how much downtown parking is actually used, which will lead to more creative and flexible curbside uses that still allow businesses to thrive. Walkable and bikeable streets often increase foot traffic and retail sales, as we covered in our recent blog.
A new vision for land use in downtown San José
San José’s Downtown Transportation Plan gets it right. It lays out a vision to reduce car dependence and prioritize affordable, climate-friendly transportation. Rethinking how we manage parking is a key part of making that vision real.
This isn’t about blaming people who drive. It’s about making better use of the public space we all share so that everyone, regardless of how they travel, can access opportunity, breathe cleaner air, and enjoy a more connected city. Join us at SPOT SJ to be part of this important conversation and movement.
