I'm generally not one who thinks that "voters are stupid" is a reason that My Preferred Agenda is not being implemented. People disagree about stuff, and while it's certainly the case that people sometimes vote against their apparent direct interests... so do I! You can take my tax dollars to educate other people's rugrats.
But parking is an issue that just makes people stupid. I realized this when it was apparent that local developers had an easier time getting neighborhood approval for projects if those projects included street facing garages because of parking concerns. Realize that street facing garages remove one public parking spot and replace it with a private one. If you're concerned about your ability to find a parking space, this is unequivocally a negative. But those concerned with parking were happy that these developments "provided" parking...by taking away public parking. And, yes, the width of one Philly rowhouse is basically one parking space.
Existing residents who don't have private parking spaces want any new development to provide massive amounts of parking. Parking takes up an immense amount of public space. It shouldn't be free. It shouldn't be cheap. In much of the city it's free, and everywhere else it's extremely cheap, and people think they're entitled to this.
