Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are actually not correct; suburban areas have more intense and all encompassing parking minimum laws. Manhattan, for instance, has either none or none below 125th Street IIRC. Suburbs look like they do not because of preference but because it is not legal for them to look otherwise. The idea in the 50s was: A) Require cars to live and you will not have to live next to poor people or minorities since cars and main…
Do you have a source for the broader claim (outside of NYC) that suburban malls in particular have more intense parking minimum laws? My comment was not talking about residential parking or standalone businesses.
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/zoningordinance/articles/ar...
Example quote (in the context of commercial shopping centers and parking minimums that apply):
> 1,000,000 square feet of gross floor area or more: Four (4) spaces per 1000 square feet of gross floor area
EDIT: Note also that you get absurd scenarios like pools requiring a space per 4 people that can use the pool, or vets having to have at least 10 spaces, and so on and so forth. Absurd regulations