Too Much Parking In Downtown Worcester? City Tops For Parking Land Use: Audit

WORCESTER, MA — If you can't find a parking spot in downtown Worcester, you may need to have your eyesight checked.

The nonprofit Parking Reform Network recently added Worcester to an audit of the amount of land large cities in the U.S. dedicate to surface lots and parking garages. The group found that about 35 percent of land in Worcester's central business district — an area roughly from Lincoln Square down to Madison Street — is devoted to parking. The figure does not include the parking spots that line city streets.

At 35 percent, Worcester is on the higher end of cities on the list in terms of land area devoted to parking, and well above the nationwide average of 22 percent. The group also assigned Worcester a parking score of 78, which is 10th highest among the more than 70 cities included in the audit. Land area in Worcester devoted to parking is on par with cities like Atlanta, Kansas City and Houston, and much higher than New England cities like Hartford (parking score: 41), Boston (parking score: 17), Providence (parking score: 46) and New Haven (parking score: 30), according to the group.

A parking score is a measure of "how a city’s parking lot land use compares to other cities of a similar metropolitan area population and city type," according to the nonprofit.

Devoting larges pieces of land is counter-productive for cities, the Parking Reform Network says, because that space could be used for things that attract people downtown, like businesses, homes and entertainment. Parking also encourages the use of cars at the expense of the climate as opposed to public transportation, walking, biking and other modes.

"This parking is often clustered around main streets, office districts, and historical cores, creating a dead zone around the city’s most valuable and walkable areas that limits residential and commercial growth," the group says.

Like many cities, Worcester's zoning regulations require new buildings to include parking. For example, multifamily buildings must provide two units of parking per unit, and office buildings must provide one space for every 1,300 square-feet of gross floor space, the code says. Developers can get around these rules, but must get permission from the Zoning Board of Appeals, which doesn't always pan out.

However, Worcester's downtown area has more lax parking requirements. The BG-6.0 zone, which covers all the downtown area considered in Parking Reform Network's audit and more, does not have any parking requirements.

Even with many acres devoted to parking in Worcester, parking has been a big issue for downtown businesses. When Polar Park opened in 2021, the WooSox released a parking plan for the convenience of the estimated 80 percent of fans expected to drive to the Canal District stadium. A 350-space parking garage has since opened across the street from Polar Park (it's not included in the Parking Reform Network evaluation).

Businesses and residents in the Canal District have highlighted problems related to parking during games with fans using street parking spots that patrons of restaurants and other local businesses could use. At the other end of downtown, specialty grocer Maker To Main moved out of its Main Street home earlier this year, partly citing a bad parking setup for customers. The grocer is planning to reopen soon in the Canal District.

At least one of the large downtown Worcester parking lots might be headed for a higher use. The Worcester Planning Board in April approved a plan for a 108-unit residential building that would be built on top of an existing surface lot along Portland Street behind the Hanover Theatre.

You can view a map of the Worcester parking areas included in the map here.