One reason housing prices are so high is a requirement that newly built multiunit dwellings (and condo conversions) provide at least one -- usually two or three -- parking space per unit. This inflates the cost of each apartment and discourages construction of smaller, more affordable units because developers would be required to provide even more parking.
"The fixation on parking in Los Angeles has driven up the price of housing and increased congestion on our streets," said Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at UCLA. He said including two spaces with a unit can add about $45,000 to construction costs.
One solution would be to waive the parking requirement for smaller apartments, thus creating an incentive for developers to place more such units on the market. And because there'd be no parking cost built into the rent, such units would (in theory) be cheaper than apartments that come with extra room for vehicles.
Some parking is necessary and it's understandable that neighborhoods would be wary of new construction projects which don't provide enough of it. Still, requiring multiple parking spots be built for each apartment unit is often absurdly unnecessary. In addition to raising the effective price of the apartment units, without giving potential tenants any choice about whether they actually want to pay for a parking spot, that much parking reduces neighborhood density making it difficult to create walkable communities.
Planning needs to take into account the need for cars and parking, but in places as dense as LA (especially the denser bits) it needs to stop being centered around the automobile issue.