Parking Standards in New Development

[Northern Light]

Perhaps time to revisit this issue in Toronto...........

Because Los Angeles, of all places, is looking at removing parking minimums in its downtown.

L.A. Proposes Eliminating Parking Requirements Downtown

Downtown L.A. follows Lancaster, Santa Monica, San Diego, San Francisco, Houston, and Cincinnati in eliminating unneeded parking requirements.

la.streetsblog.org

 

[innsertnamehere]

Toronto already effectively does this. Lots of no parking developments downtown. It has rates in the zoning by-law that work out to about 0.5 spaces a unit, but general practice downtown right now is closer to 0.1, with some buildings doing 0 or effectively 0 (3-4 spaces only).

My apartment building has by-law level parking and has 229 spaces for 395 units, or a rate of 0.57. Very high for downtown today, and it shows. The parking garage is probably 1/2 full at best and that is with a lot of the spaces being rented out commercially to people who work in the area. My guess demand is about 0.05 / unit for visitor, and 0.2 or so for resident parking.

 

[tmlittle]

My understanding is that Kitchener is seeing its first modern no-parking development, or at least its first high-profile one, under construction right now: here. It has bike parking instead, a very progressive move.

 

[mdrejhon]

Hamilton — our well known auto-friendly city — is finally doing condo towers with less parking spaces than residents.

About to be approved in December, a 700 million dollar redevelopment of City Centre (Jackson Square) as well as the start of LRT construction, is a big starting pistol for the urbanization of Lower City Hamilton. Lower City will be slightly more painful to drive-through as a Main/King shuts down for construction in segments. Already, some LRT prep is going on, like utilities and natgas upgrades (at Traffic Circle).

 

[innsertnamehere]

My understanding is that Kitchener is seeing its first modern no-parking development, or at least its first high-profile one, under construction right now: here. It has bike parking instead, a very progressive move.

I believe the soon to be tallest building in Kitchener (currently under construction) is going to have essentially 0 parking, IIRC only a handful of spaces in a small single level garage.

 

[tmlittle]

I believe the soon to be tallest building in Kitchener (currently under construction) is going to have essentially 0 parking, IIRC only a handful of spaces in a small single level garage.

Which one is that?

 

[innsertnamehere]

Which one is that?

Duke Condos. 39 storeys, only a single small underground floor.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Can see an auto-share facility going into the garages. Then the people could make use of a car, SUV, van, or truck depending on the need of the moment, or not

See https://www.blogto.com/city/2018/04/car-sharing-toronto/

Car sharing in Toronto has a leg up on traditional car rentals in a few ways. First, you can usually find a car anytime of the day – even if it's just for an hour or two – and second, you pay for the time used as opposed to a flat rate.

Of course in some cases, buying a car or renting can be the cheapest option in the long run. But for those who don't need a car on the daily and want to avoid surprise delays on the TTC, car sharing might be the best option for you.

Here's a roundup of car sharing services in Toronto.

Zipcar

One of the first companies to bring car sharing to the city, Zipcar is one of the largest services in the world. Use the app to book a car and use the card key provided to unlock it. The yearly membership is $70 plus a $30 application fee; hourly rates are around $9.25.

Maven

You'll only drive General Motors cars with this company, since it's a GM subsidiary. They're a more recent addition to the city than some others, and there's no membership fees. Hourly rates start low at around $8-9 per hour depending on the vehicle. They've also got a tiny fleet, with just under 100 cars available.

Enterprise CarShare

This traditional rental service was smart to hop on the car share wagon, with tons of vehicle locations around the city. Formerly AutoShare, they have three different memberships that range from $45 a year to $200 month; the simplest plan offers an hourly rate starting at $6.

Communauto

Opened alongside the city's free-floating pilot project, Communauto users can park their ride at a different location than they picked it up, in a variety of parking spots outside of company lots. Prices start at 41 cents per minute, and level up to $15 per hour, $50 per day. Fuel cost and 150 kilometres are both included.

Turo

A cross between car sharing and rental service, this San Francisco-based company is kind of like the Airbnb of cars. Boasting the most cars available in Canada, Turo is a peer-to-peer service, meaning you can make some extra dough by renting out your car, and users can find vehicles (Porsche, anyone?) at varying prices.

Consider the price of maintenance, insurance, fuel, and especially the real estate to store the vehicle when not using it.

 

[tmlittle]

Duke Condos. 39 storeys, only a single small underground floor.

At least it'll be a consolidation for losing that gorgeous old church, I suppose.