# The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup

5 Hacker News commenters recommended The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for showing how free parking wastes space and money and harms cities, and for its value to readers of urban economics and housing affordability.

## Why people recommend it

- Shows how free parking wastes space (2 comments): "This is got to be a huge factor. Making everyone pay for "free parking" through inefficient use of space is such a waste." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47817240)) "is an incredible book that shows exactly how awful parking has been for society" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46860219))
- Useful for urban economics and housing (1 comments): "I highly recommend it if you're interested in urban economics, housing affordability, making cities more liveable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47824810))
- Author is a pioneer in the field (1 comments): "Shoup is of course the OG." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47264993))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0367092808?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780367092801) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup", https://hackerapproved.com/p/high-cost-of-free-parking/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).