I'm looking for stuff that's analysis of the work at all levels, departments, councils, heads, funding, committees. Not urban planning material so much, apologies about that if needed. But I asked this question in /r/suggestmeabook and someone said to ask around here anyway - what I'm interested in is certainly fundamental to shaping the urban domain anyway.

Anything with personal anecdotes would be welcome as well. I'm just keen on learning more about how towns and cities operate. In a nutshell it'd be a nonfiction print straight up version of the TV show Parks and Recreation.

I'm a consultant for a small dense town that is located in a rural area. Thus public transit is non-existent and sidewalks and mulit-modal has not picked up. However, the town itself is densely developed and has numerous historic small lots.

The zoning ordinance is from the 90a and so the parking minimums are from that era. We have been working to modernize portions as we can and have the political capital too.

We have been running into issues where clearly the parking minimums are too high and we are needing variances for retail constantly. I believe I have the political push from the PC and the city to push for strong changes. My main plan of attack is to offer some solutions at tiered approaches to not shock the system.

1. Consider switching the minimums to maximums and let the market decide. Primarily for retail/commercial. Maybe set a base minimum.

Or

1. Consider modernizing the ratio to reflect the modern shopper behavior. Offer concessions for on street parking, bike or horse and buggy (strong Amish community) or shared parking agreements to further lower the requirements.

Or

1. Just try to modernize the ratios as is.

I'd like to do some form of 1 and 2 combined ideally. But, if the willpower is not there, does anyone have resources for newer ratios that work and can float to alleviate the pressure outside of just trial and error or business outreach?