Recent estimates put the cost of owning, insuring and operating a car at $10,000 per year or $833 per month. That doesn’t include garaging the car, however. One large apartment developer in the Redmond/ Bellevue area east of Seattle says those stall costs are now about $40,000, or about the same as the land value. Assuming a debt service constant of 5%, those garage costs require additional rent of $166 per month. Adding that to the $833 per cost of ownership, insurance, and operation totals $1000 per month.
Eliminating those costs and capitalizing those savings is the equivalent of reducing basic housing costs by $185,000 per unit. Subsidizing car-dependent housing can’t scale. Car-free living does.