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<br />SA <br />Page 44 <br />Renters own fewer vehicles. According to 1990 census data, the most recent for which a <br />breakdown is available, 41 % of rental households in Santa Clara County own one vehicle and 9% <br />own no vehicle at all- more than double the proportions for owner occupiers. <br />Residents of dense, transit-oriented development own fewer vehicles. Residents in light rail <br />corridors use transit as their predominant commute mode more than five times as often as <br />residents countywide. In turn, they are less likely to own a vehicle. A recent study of the factors <br />influencing vehicle ownership in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Chicago found that transit <br />service and density, along with income and household size, explained virtually all the variation in <br />vehicle ownership between different neighborhoods in each region. . ..the densest, most transit <br />accessible areas (show) the lowest vehicle ownership rates. ...apartment dwellers also own fewer <br />vehicles than those in detached homes - regardless 9f income. <br />In Housing Shortage / Parking Surplus, the Transportation and Land Use Coalition described <br />how good location, good design, and specialized unit types can create remarkably low parking <br />demand by describing the development "Alma Place" in Palo Alto as an example: <br />Alma Place, an affordable (project) near Palo Alto's downtown developed by the non-profit Palo <br />Alto Housing Corporation, has only 0.5 spaces per residential unit. The project, begun in 1996, <br />sits on a half-acre parcel originally zoned at 15 units per acre. As built, Alma Place offers 250 <br />units per acre, unprecedented in downtown Palo Alto. <br />Alma Place offers 106 single-room units and a manager's unit. The apartments provide 260 <br />square feet of living space that includes a bathroom, sink, small refrigerator, noise-insulated bay <br />windows, and nine-foot ceilings. The units must meet strict affordability requirements, with rents <br />offered according to income ranging from $330 to $490. <br />A year 2000 survey showed that 81 % of the parking was utilized in peak periods. City of Palo Alto <br />staffs acknowledge that the building "certainly isn't underparked." and it has received little <br />complaint from tenants or surrounding residents. If Palo Alto's standard parking requirement were <br />applied to Alma Place, 70% of its parking would have been unused (or, more likely, it would have <br />contained less housing). <br />'- <br />1>t1~~ 3'Z <br />.----.. <._ ..~_.._."_ u.,,_____.._ .~_ _U'_._.._. _...u_____..___.... __________.__,,_ <br />