A commenter in the thread below suggested that any new Philadelphia development requires parking, so developers can't be blamed for putting in stupid ass garages. It's true that this is a widespread belief, a belief so widespread that I even believed it until someone set me straight, and so widespread that many developers even believed it to be true for a time. But someone in the know set me straight and it isn't actually true. Any new development with 5 or more units needs to address parking, but single lot development doesn't.
It's true that you can get community opposition to development which doesn't have parking, though why "subtract one public parking space and replace it with one private one" is something which addresses such concerns escapes me.
More than that, often (though not always) the option exists to put the parking in either a back spot or garage. Just keep them off the front of the buildings.
