MAPC “Perfect Fit” Parking

The West Newton Armory team has heard a range of feedback from the public and other stakeholders about the “right” amount of parking at the Armory. Parking is an important land use, development, and affordable housing consideration. Recognizing how important the topic is, and the site constraints at the Armory, we hired a traffic engineer to evaluate trip generation and parking at the site. The study will help the development team make informed decisions during the permitting process.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (“MAPC”), a regional planning agency serving over 100 cities and towns in Metro Boston, launched an initiative in 2017 to educate planners, developers, and the public about parking. The MAPC’s Perfect Fit research provides helpful context about parking utilization in other cities and towns in Massachusetts. The three-year study included 20 cities and towns around Boston - Newton included - and surveyed almost 20,000 housing units.

Perfect Fit concluded that parking demand was only 0.55 cars per household for developments that were greater than fifty-percent affordable. The amount of deed-restricted affordable units was one of three key variables identified by the MAPC as predictive of parking demand.

The Perfect Fit Phase II Report is linked here and Executive Summary is linked here. The website includes additional information and an interactive data exploration tool.