Downtown Parking Management Updates

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Come learn about upcoming changes to downtown parking and share your feedback in Old Town Square on Oct. 16, Oct. 24 and Oct. 25! See details and times in the Events section of this page.


The City of Fort Collins is reviewing how parking is managed in the downtown core. With growing demand for parking and increased downtown activity, the City is exploring updates to ensure the parking system is easy to use, financially sustainable and supportive of a vibrant Downtown economy.

Project Goals

  • Support a vibrant Downtown: Make it easier for people to reach their destinations, encourage parking turnover for businesses and reduce traffic from drivers circling for free spaces.
  • Improve customer choice: Provide options for short-term and long-term parkers, make garages more attractive for long-term parking and ensure the most convenient spaces are available for those who value them most.
  • Ensure financial sustainability: Create a system that funds its own operations and maintenance rather than relying on the City’s General Fund.
  • Ensure alignment with overall transportation plans: Align and integrate the City’s parking program with the City’s Transportation Demand Management program.
  • Remain adaptable and flexible: Openly receive community feedback to help shape future decisions of the paid program development and implementation.

Why Now

Downtown Fort Collins currently operates with an “upside-down” parking model where the most convenient on-street spaces are free, while garages cost money. This discourages garage use, increases congestion and limits parking availability. Peer cities across the U.S. have moved to paid parking models to remedy these issues, and Fort Collins is one of the few remaining cities of its size that does not charge for on-street parking.

To address these challenges, the City partnered with Walker Consultants and the Downtown Development Authority to complete the Parking Services Optimization Study. The study analyzed parking supply, demand and financial conditions downtown, and identified strategies to improve customer experience, reduce congestion and establish a self-sustaining funding model for parking operations and maintenance – including:

  • Expanding paid parking
  • Expanding parking enforcement hours
  • Improving parking options and wayfinding Downtown
  • Improving employee and commuter parking options Downtown
  • Restructuring the City’s Residential Permit Parking Program (RP3) zones

What’s Next

The City will be engaging with community members, Downtown businesses and stakeholders to gather feedback as we develop a paid parking implementation plan.

You can subscribe to this webpage (see the Subscribe button near the top of the page) for updates as we move forward, including announcements about engagement events and opportunities to share feedback.

Come learn about upcoming changes to downtown parking and share your feedback in Old Town Square on Oct. 16, Oct. 24 and Oct. 25! See details and times in the Events section of this page.


The City of Fort Collins is reviewing how parking is managed in the downtown core. With growing demand for parking and increased downtown activity, the City is exploring updates to ensure the parking system is easy to use, financially sustainable and supportive of a vibrant Downtown economy.

Project Goals

  • Support a vibrant Downtown: Make it easier for people to reach their destinations, encourage parking turnover for businesses and reduce traffic from drivers circling for free spaces.
  • Improve customer choice: Provide options for short-term and long-term parkers, make garages more attractive for long-term parking and ensure the most convenient spaces are available for those who value them most.
  • Ensure financial sustainability: Create a system that funds its own operations and maintenance rather than relying on the City’s General Fund.
  • Ensure alignment with overall transportation plans: Align and integrate the City’s parking program with the City’s Transportation Demand Management program.
  • Remain adaptable and flexible: Openly receive community feedback to help shape future decisions of the paid program development and implementation.

Why Now

Downtown Fort Collins currently operates with an “upside-down” parking model where the most convenient on-street spaces are free, while garages cost money. This discourages garage use, increases congestion and limits parking availability. Peer cities across the U.S. have moved to paid parking models to remedy these issues, and Fort Collins is one of the few remaining cities of its size that does not charge for on-street parking.

To address these challenges, the City partnered with Walker Consultants and the Downtown Development Authority to complete the Parking Services Optimization Study. The study analyzed parking supply, demand and financial conditions downtown, and identified strategies to improve customer experience, reduce congestion and establish a self-sustaining funding model for parking operations and maintenance – including:

  • Expanding paid parking
  • Expanding parking enforcement hours
  • Improving parking options and wayfinding Downtown
  • Improving employee and commuter parking options Downtown
  • Restructuring the City’s Residential Permit Parking Program (RP3) zones

What’s Next

The City will be engaging with community members, Downtown businesses and stakeholders to gather feedback as we develop a paid parking implementation plan.

You can subscribe to this webpage (see the Subscribe button near the top of the page) for updates as we move forward, including announcements about engagement events and opportunities to share feedback.

  • Oct. 9 Project Update: Business engagement recap, upcoming community engagement events

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    Thank you to all who attended our business engagement event in September, focused on educating downtown businesses about these updates and getting feedback from business owners!

    Here are the top things we heard:

    • Interest in providing downtown employee permit options
    • Inclusion of a short grace period to allow for quick pick-ups and deliveries
    • Preference for a phased implementation rather than an abrupt, all-at-once change
    • Support for 4-hour limits in paid parking areas to encourage turnover
    • Importance of preserving the unique character and charm of Old Town

    Following this business engagement, we're hosting three drop-in events downtown to present potential downtown parking updates, answer questions and collect feedback from anyone in the community:

    • 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 16 | Old Town Square + Fort Collins Welcome Center (coffee, tea provided)
    • 4-7 p.m., Oct. 24 | Old Town Square
    • 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. 25 | Old Town Square + Fort Collins Welcome Center (coffee, tea provided)

    You can stop in anytime during those hours to view data presentations and share your thoughts.

    As always, you can submit comments or ask questions here on the webpage.

    We'll post another update here as we continue to make progress; you can subscribe to these updates by tapping or clicking the Subscribe button on the webpage.

Page last updated: 22 Nov 2025, 11:59 AM