mrgrieves
Active Member
I moved to Toronto from Montreal a few years ago and was very surprised initially at the concept of Green P lots. In Montreal as far as I know there is no concept of a city owned parking lot. It is not considered necessary for there to be parking lots everywhere, and the city certainly does not encourage people to drive and park everywhere rather than take public transit, especially where it is available.
I'm not saying Green P is necessarily a bad thing, in fact I find it very handy for the most part. However it just seems contradictory that a city which invests so much in the TTC would at the same time subsidize parking. The reason I say subsidize is because many of these lots could obviously be sold off for more productive uses. It also seems like the Green Ps charge below market rates. I know that if a development occurs on a Green P lot, the spots have to be replaced by the developer.
Is the Green P a sort of legacy thing from back in the day when TO was very car-focused? Or is this something that many cities of TO's size have?
I'm not saying Green P is necessarily a bad thing, in fact I find it very handy for the most part. However it just seems contradictory that a city which invests so much in the TTC would at the same time subsidize parking. The reason I say subsidize is because many of these lots could obviously be sold off for more productive uses. It also seems like the Green Ps charge below market rates. I know that if a development occurs on a Green P lot, the spots have to be replaced by the developer.
Is the Green P a sort of legacy thing from back in the day when TO was very car-focused? Or is this something that many cities of TO's size have?