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Notes -
Inspired by last month’s guest post and my own trip to Fort Worth this weekend: what does a land value tax do to parking?
In the long run, of course, it’s going to push for more productive developments than a flat slab of asphalt. I’m interested in the short run. Whoever owns the lot loses their subsidy, raises parking prices accordingly, and/or sells to someone with the capital for an improvement. A business which currently relies on the cheap lot down the street is not likely to enjoy that process. I suspect a lot of small American operations rely on such setups. Does this give them a reason to oppose LVT?
Isn't it perverse, to begin with, if businesses that rely on cheap (or any) parking cluster where the land is valuable? If their customers drive to them, why can't you have them in whatever location in the customer's driving radius has the cheapest land instead? Most European cities, and many American ones, already work like that, with shops that cater to driving customers setting up on marginal land on the city's periphery (e.g. nestled between industrial parks) instead of downtown.
That's the problem that the Georgists don't consider. This was the entire basis of the downtown retail collapse that began in the 1950s and still hasn't really reversed itself, and was the impetus for many of the detrimental urban renewal projects that those same Georgists like to bemoan. If you're interested, check out my essay on East Liberty, particular Section 13B, where I expound on the topic you brought up in greater detail, in the context of an actual city neighborhood.
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