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Parking spaces vary in size, but a US DOT standard for parking lots is 8.5x19 feet (~2.6x5.8 m), 161.5 square feet, almost exactly 15 square meters. That's in the low range of microapartments (Wiki says 150-350 feet, 14-32 m2) or tiny houses (100-400 feet2.) Squeeze in some stairs (or ladder, anyway) and you can double the space with two stories, into the high end of the range.
And that's just the parking space itself, not the total area per space in a parking lot, though of course people need space to move around in as well.
Non-compact parking spaces generally accommodate vans, generally 1.8-2.1 m wide and 4.8-6.2 m long. Vans can be turned into campervans or "Class B" motorhomes.
Compact spaces are 8x16 feet, 128 feet2 or 11.89 m2.
Parallel parking spaces likewise vary, but ranges seem to be 2.1-2.4 m wide and 6.1-7.9 m long, for an area of 13-19 m2.
So the opportunity cost of a parking space is a home -- a little room/studio for one person, or a decent small home for a person or couple. In current high value cities, that would be easily worth $600/month (new SROs in Seattle were going for that). With campervans and somewhere nearby to go to change water/waste/batteries, a parking space can be someone's home even without direct plumbing and power hookups, easily worth, oh, $100/month in land rent. Vs. a residential parking permit of $40/year (Somerville) or $25 (Cambridge, last I checked) or $0 (Boston, for as many cars as you register.)
Or of course you can group two or three spaces together to get something more like a conventionally sized home that would easily rent for $1000/month or more.
And that's just the parking space itself, not the total area per space in a parking lot, though of course people need space to move around in as well.
Non-compact parking spaces generally accommodate vans, generally 1.8-2.1 m wide and 4.8-6.2 m long. Vans can be turned into campervans or "Class B" motorhomes.
Compact spaces are 8x16 feet, 128 feet2 or 11.89 m2.
Parallel parking spaces likewise vary, but ranges seem to be 2.1-2.4 m wide and 6.1-7.9 m long, for an area of 13-19 m2.
So the opportunity cost of a parking space is a home -- a little room/studio for one person, or a decent small home for a person or couple. In current high value cities, that would be easily worth $600/month (new SROs in Seattle were going for that). With campervans and somewhere nearby to go to change water/waste/batteries, a parking space can be someone's home even without direct plumbing and power hookups, easily worth, oh, $100/month in land rent. Vs. a residential parking permit of $40/year (Somerville) or $25 (Cambridge, last I checked) or $0 (Boston, for as many cars as you register.)
Or of course you can group two or three spaces together to get something more like a conventionally sized home that would easily rent for $1000/month or more.