In a city where the majority of people have never taken public transportation, it should come as no surprise to landlords and developers that secured parking is a top priority for renters.
Of those that are interested in resident parking, nearly 84 percent of people living in the Los Angeles metro area would not rent without it, according to the latest 2017 National Multifamily Housing Council/Kingsley Renter Preferences Report.
With roughly 77 percent of survey respondents driving to work, and 96 percent having one or more cars to park, the numbers add up. No wonder Los Angeles is consistently ranked as the world’s most congested area per the Intrix 2017 traffic scorecard.
The city has taken note too. Most recently, Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled his “28 by 28” plan as a means to speed up the construction of 28 transit developments before the 2028 Olympics. A new incentives package for those developers that build near transit stops seems to be working, as well. Just this month, one affordable housing developer who qualified for Tier 3 benefits filed plans for a taller, more dense apartment complex in South Los Angeles.
The study, which includes responses from over 270,000 apartment renters in 80 different markets, also found nearly half of respondents are interested in earning some extra cash through short-term rentals, such as Airbnb. Demand for rentals continues to be on the upswing, too. The number of residents living in rental housing has consistently increased by an average of 1.7 million people every year since 2011, according to the Census Bureau.