In a lot of areas, street parking is actually a really good way to provide a barrier between the sidewalk and traffic. This physical safety provides psychological safety, so people feel a lot more comfortable with sidewalk dining, etc. A lane of parking can also separate car traffic from a bi-directional pair of bike lanes.
Also, a lot of cities have too many and/or too wide lanes, which makes drivers feel too safe driving unsafe speeds. You can use parking to "eat up" the extra space and make the street feel more crowded, which will make drivers slow down and drive a lot more carefully.
So street parking should absolutely not be seen as just a negative thing, it can serve a very useful function in the layout of a street.
On a similar note, my city used to have a lot of 50 km/h four lane streets through residential areas, even though they were only minor trunk roads that didn't warrant that many car lanes. There was also a severe dearth of bike lanes, and since these are residential areas with lots of houses, there were always cars parked in the right lane and cars turning left into driveways.
The solution was to remove two lanes of traffic, forbid street parking, add a bike lane along each side of the road, and add a centre turning lane. this was all done with just paint and "no parking" signage. There was a bit of complaining about the loss of street parking, but other than that it's worked out great, and I actually see people using the bike lanes now, and traffic actually flow smoother.
Also, a lot of cities have too many and/or too wide lanes, which makes drivers feel too safe driving unsafe speeds. You can use parking to "eat up" the extra space and make the street feel more crowded, which will make drivers slow down and drive a lot more carefully.
So street parking should absolutely not be seen as just a negative thing, it can serve a very useful function in the layout of a street.