[andrewliebchen]

The city already legislates how many parking spaces the mall should have, so you can't say there's no civic control over private parking.

Why couldn't our city councils tax each parking space? Landlords would pass that on as a parking fee.

[stretchwithme]

Maybe because both the property and the commerce these spots facilitate is probably already taxed and that's already passed on to consumers.

[andrewliebchen]

Just because something supports commerce doesn't mean it should be free. My city (Mountain View, CA) has outlawed plastic bags and requires stores to charge for paper bags...commerce supports that were "free" to the consumer in the past. Yet, for some reason, the city provides TONS of free parking in municipal lots.

Car owners kind of already pay for infrastructure for their vehicles through excise tax, gas tax, and tolls (not really, but at least its something). Why not charge for parking too?