RULES 16 & 83 | ELIMINATE ON—SITE PARKING REQUIREMENTS & DESIGN SPACES WITH WALLS & GOOD EDGES
- Holly Terrill
- Oct 22
- 5 min read
WALKABLE WICHITA: LESSONS FROM JEFF SPECK
BY RAMI STUCKY
About 35 percent of all land area downtown is currently devoted to parking. If you asked Wichitans in the mid-1970s what they thought of this statistic, chances are they would not have been impressed. They would have wanted to see a much higher number. Downtown during that decade was struggling. Ten years previously, five buildings–the Schweiter, Beacon, Kress, Montgomery Ward, and Allis Hotel–were valued at more than $3 million. They contributed $96,000 in taxes. By the mid-1970s, those five buildings were vacant. [1]
During its heyday, the Boston Store on Douglas and Main, later the Hinkel’s Department Store, had a policeman at the door to keep the crowd back and only let in a certain number at a time whenever there was a sale. Residents fondly remember the Innes Department Store on William and Broadway, particularly its lovely tea room, and eating at restaurants like Garvie’s. [2] But those businesses shut down. Occupancy was down 50 or 60 percent in some of the older buildings. [3] After 5:00 p.m., the district was a ghost town. During the day, it did not fare much better either. The workforce had dwindled from around 30,000 to around 20,000. [4]
In late October 1975, journalist Delores Quinlisk published a series in the local newspapers focusing on the decline and hopeful rebirth of downtown. She interviewed the likes of Ken Kitchen at the Urban Renewal Agency and businesspeople such as Russ Gordon, Sr., the owner-manager of Brick’s Men’s Wear. Residents’ thoughts were published in the editorial section. Wichitans devoted considerable thought to improving the area. Quinlisk cited advancements made in Charlotte’s downtown as something to emulate. She highlighted the need for bold leadership. Real estate agents called for tax increment financing.
The idea that was repeated time after time, though? Downtown needed to resemble the suburbs. It needed to resemble the new Towne East Mall, which had opened just months prior. It required free parking just like other shopping malls across the city. Resident FL Schaeffer wanted to copy what they had seen in Cincinnati. “It was there I noticed the city had torn down a half block every two blocks and put in parking areas. Upon my return to Wichita, I wrote to our City Commission, suggesting they do this here in downtown Wichita.” [5] Roy D. Prickett made a similar suggestion.
“Remove every other building in the core area and replace it with a parking lot. If stores like Kress and Montgomery Ward had had store-side parking, they probably would still be in business at the same location,” they argued. [6] “As far as possible, downtown should try to establish the mall concept,” claimed Charles F. Ward, another Wichitan. “In each block or whenever possible, develop 1/3 to ½ into downtown parking. In the 300 to 600 block of East Douglas, remove one- or two-story empty buildings and build off-street parking. I am convinced that to help revive downtown, a conversion to a mall-like condition is the path to take.” [7]
Even those who proposed walkable and transit-oriented solutions nevertheless succumbed to promoting automobile culture. Sam Hardage, a Wichita developer with US communities, argued that the city should install miniparks all over downtown.[8] At the same time, Hardage argued that “we need a gigantic new shopping center downtown. It has to be big enough and have enough bang so it, in itself, will draw shopping to it.” To make space for these parking lots, Hardage echoed arguments by Schaeffer, Prickett, and Ward. He wanted to tear down empty buildings, particularly those built in the 1920s and 1930s. They have “outlived their usefulness.” [9]
One resident proposed closing Douglas off to traffic “so people could walk freely across the street.” Then, in the next breath, they proposed free public parking downtown, citing the appeal of free parking in suburban shopping malls. [10] Sharon May Nyenhuis asked readers to imagine an ideal situation. “Saturday will be family night in downtown Wichita. Main to Waco on Douglas will be blocked off to motor traffic to make space for free music, dance, drama, and poetry of varied styles for everyone to join in the action.” How can we encourage people to embrace this car-free environment? “Free parking.” [11]
Had such desires been realized, downtown Wichita’s walkability would have decreased. In Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places, urban planner Jeff Speck argues that surface parking lots and empty parcels do not contribute to a sense of space. [12] Places that lack spatial definition make pedestrians feel unsafe, and walkability suffers. Instead, cities should strive to create a height-to-width ratio of at least 1:1. In Salzburg, Germany, where tall buildings flank streets, it is 5:1. To contribute to this feel, Speck recommends taxing vacant property at a considerably higher rate than the same land with buildings, subsidizing empty lots, and using tax increment financing.[13]
Another way to prevent the proliferation of parking lots and undermine walkability is by eliminating on-site parking requirements. Around the country, zoning ordinances have mandated that specific properties contain a certain number of parking spaces. In Wichita, the law mandates that new taverns and drinking establishments require one parking spot per two occupants. Indoor theaters require one per three seats. Restaurants need the same.[14] Speck argues, though, that “cities that wish to be pedestrian-friendly and fully developed should eliminate this ordinance immediately.”[15]
Wichita has followed Speck’s advice and recently removed parking minimums from land zoned as the Central Business District. The city could remove parking requirements in all zones, allowing developers, not the city, to decide how much parking specific projects should have. Ideally, this number should be as low as possible, and mandating parking maximums is also an option.
[1] Delores Quinlisk, “If Downtown Goes Down, Entire City Goes With It,” Wichita Eagle, October 29, 1975.
[2] “Readers Respond to Downtown Series,” Wichita Beacon, November 1, 1975, 27.
[3] Delores Quinlisk, “Return of People Downtown Goal,” Wichita Eagle, October 29, 1975, 2.
[4] Quinlisk, 1.
[5] “The Public Forum,” Wichita Beacon, November 2, 1975, 78.
[6] “The Public Forum,” Wichita Eagle, November 3, 1975, 4.
[7] “The Public Forum.”
[8] Quinlisk, “Return of People Downtown Goal,” 1.
[9] Delores Quinlisk, “Downtown Mall Urged,” Wichita Beacon, October 30, 1975, 1.
[10] “The Public Forum,” Wichita Eagle, November 12, 1975, 28.
[11] “Readers Respond to Downtown Series,” Wichita Beacon, November 8, 1975, 73.
[12] Jeff Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2018).
[13] Speck, 198–99.
[14] Wichita-Sedgwick Unified Zoning Code, “Article IV - Site Development Standards” (n.d.), https://library.municode.com/ks/wichita-sedgwick_county_unified/codes/unified_zoning_code?nodeId=ARTIVSIDEST.
[15] Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places, 38.
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