Beyond the obvious health crisis precipitated by COVID-19, the pandemic has sparked massive unemployment – more than 9 million American workers are still out of work – which, in turn, has exacerbated the nation’s already overwhelming homelessness crisis.

Pre-pandemic, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that more than 580,000 people nationally were living on the streets on any given night, nearly half of whom were in California. Over the next four years, that number is expected to increase by 49%, according to research recently conducted by California’s Economic Roundtable. Another 2.7 million homeowners nationwide currently find themselves in COVID-19 forbearance, according to the White House.

While there are clearly no easy answers to an issue that seems destined to become even worse in the not-too-distant future, one solution may be found in yet another pre-pandemic issue: a rapidly declining demand for parking space in the heart of America’s cities.

Thanks in large part to a significant rise in the number of workers living within walking or biking distance to their jobs and a marked increase in the use of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, garages and parking lots located in central business districts (CBDs) were seeing a significant drop-off in their business long before the pandemic made working from home a necessity.

Operators today are unlikely to see anything approaching that level unless they settle on a sale price far below pre-pandemic market rates.

Faced with this untenable situation, some parking operators have come up with a more resourceful approach. Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, some garages leased their facilities for a variety of alternative uses. Some garages were transformed into outside dining areas or makeshift drive-in movie theaters, while others were used to house pop-up warehouses, storage units and parking for Amazon delivery fleets.

Recognizing the success of these efforts and the growing homelessness crisis, enterprising operators are now lobbying planning and zoning boards in cities around the country to relax restrictions so that they can retrofit their under-used garages to provide affordable living space for families.

Read the full article about deserted parking lots by Wes Guckert at Smart Cities Dive.