Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas
Detached garages are the worst, though. They're a waste of land and height. The ones in Austin are hated by the Austin forumers, myself included, and often create dead zones with no street life or gaps in it. Parking podiums at least appear to be more aesthetically pleasing and encourage the architect and developer to conceal and make the garage at least appear more attractive. Detached garages look cheap and always seem like an afterthought. Ideally parking should be below ground to free up more property above ground for other better uses, but on big lots developers tend to get lazy/cheap.
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It's here and there. I know of podiums that don't accomplish much at street level. The key to any garage component is the particular zoning where it's located. RIO and FBZ (a combination of the two where in San Antonio FBZ will trump RIO regarding structured parking) will require the garage (if it's detached) to be wrapped with retail or residential unless a variance is granted. RIO is going to require that it be glad in a manner that's comparable to the tower itself.
That being said, structured parking taking up an entire block is somewhat wasted space, but I guess that all depends on where it's located.