Officials with the Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone conducted a parking study from October 2025 to January 2026 to hear from residents, business owners and visitors of the neighborhood on how parking plays a role in their everyday lives and decisions.
The setup
The survey asked residents a variety of questions that touched on topics such as parking difficulty, influence and potential solutions. Over 1,000 Montrose residents responded to the survey, along with employees who work in the neighborhood and frequent visitors.
Approximately 1,269 people responded to the survey, according to a May 18 presentation on the findings.
Results are in
One of the first questions asked on the survey was: Does parking availability influence whether or not you frequent a particular location in Montrose?
About 760 respondents, or 60%, said yes, while 501, or 40% of respondents, said no. Of those who said yes, the reasons listed were:
- Can't find parking
- Don't visit businesses
- Won't go if they have to pay or concerns about paid parking
- Other top themes, such as public safety, insufficient supply of parking or the use of alternative transportation modes
The survey's results also revealed that the day and time when parking is the most difficult is on weekends in the evening and late at night.
Moving toward solutions for parking challenges, respondents said they would like to see less on-street and paid parking, more enforcement, the addition of more parking spaces and for officials to invest in multimodal transportation to make it easier to walk and bike.
To see a full list of results, click here.
Next steps
According to the presentation, the survey identified key geographic areas of concern, which concentrated around Westheimer's commercial area, the Fairview bar district, Montrose Collective, West Gray commercial area and the Harlow District.
The board will now analyze the results of the survey along with the supply/demand analysis before deciding next steps.
