Worst parking lot in your city

[giallo]

This thread is inspired by a CBC piece.

I would have voted for Crystal Mall's parkade in Burnaby (I hate parkades in general), but I've never had the misfortune of parking at 41st and Victoria.

What's the worst parking lot in your city?

_KVo_Ov24lM

[Architype]

Vancouver city hates parking lots and is trying systematically to eliminate them.

Kingsgate Mall has four separate ones with no connections between them, but all free and very accommodating, which will eventually disappear with redevelopment.

https://goo.gl/maps/ArCuN9MuJKvnsPHP9

[Coldrsx]

This guy. Massive, abutting two bike lanes, 1/2 block from LRT, good bus connections, many neighbourhood amenities, next to the CBD, empty for decades.

https://cdn.skyrisecities.com/forum/attachments/screen-shot-2022-12-14-at-11-53-51-pm-png.445383/

https://cdn.skyrisecities.com/forum/attachments/screen-shot-2022-12-14-at-11-54-04-pm-png.445384/

https://cdn.skyrisecities.com/forum/attachments/screen-shot-2022-12-14-at-11-54-24-pm-png.445385/
Google

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For funsies, this was to have been built there back in the late 70s/early 80s.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x164/coldrsx/commonwealthsquare.jpg
Emporis

[SignalHillHiker]

I misunderstood the assignment lol

A little good news to start: the former site of the track and field for a 1977 Canada Summer Games (beside the swimming pool on Memorial University of Newfoundland's campus) was very quickly afterwards turned into a parking lot:

https://i.postimg.cc/zBbJ0z2F/Screenshot-2022-12-15-070601.png

We're hosting again in 2025 and the new track and field will be constructed on exactly that site, with the City and University vowing to keep it going afterward.

*****

The most offensive to me are all of the wide surface parking lots where a parking garage would've been much better. Visiting some of these places, you're practically parking in the Maritimes and walking over. Some of them having parking garages added now but still maintain their expansive lots as well.

Health Sciences Centre (city's primary hospital):

https://i.postimg.cc/DzmJ3KY8/Screenshot-2022-12-15-070856.png

Confederation Building (provincial legislature):

https://i.postimg.cc/qRsp9b0N/Screenshot-2022-12-15-071019.png

Avalon Mall:

https://i.postimg.cc/43vMGr7R/Screenshot-2022-12-15-071127.png

Village Mall:

https://i.postimg.cc/yN65VLFJ/Screenshot-2022-12-15-071215.png

And absolutely every urban fringe shopping area, most infamously Stavanger Drive:

https://i.postimg.cc/hv8bQBnK/Screenshot-2022-12-15-071319.png

Downtown is actually pretty good with parking lots - lots there to be developed, of course, but most are small or tucked away pretty decently. Some are even used for other purposes (i.e. one serves as the setting for outdoor movies on summer Mondays). If I had to pick one to develop, I'd go with this one because I hate that an infill building along Water Street West was allowed to put its parking lot in front. There's also a massive lot across the street but I think it's somehow federal, or outside the City's jurisdiction in some way. It's definitely part of the port, used to store imported cars or excess shipping containers, etc.

https://i.postimg.cc/8zGWf3XC/319234922-5401270313332562-4131809179056744653-n.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/0Nx6rwQK/Screenshot-2022-12-15-071712.png

[Nashe]

For Moncton, it probably was:

https://i.imgur.com/hI1dMty.jpg

MonctonRad knows what I'm talkin' about. This was the only Costco in the city up until 2 years ago (when it moved). Check out that dead-end parking lot where you have to cross all the foot traffic to get past the front door (red). There is only really one way out (the pink line, which leads to a 4 way stop). The yellow are the car service bay doors that block the access to the secondary North parking lot half of the time. And since it's a Costco, you had massive people-traffic pushing giant carts crisscrossing all over.

It once took me 40 minutes to get out of this lot. I'm not exaggerating, I timed it.

[esquire]

There's no shortage of candidates in downtown Winnipeg but the long-reigning heavyweight champion has to be this one, right at Portage and Main. The site of the former McIntyre Block:

https://greenactioncentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/20180802_111905-e1536871975442.jpg

Here's the building that stood there until 1979. It's been a parking lot ever since.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/5042847.jpg?w=1000

[Luisito]

What a loss. I wish they would actually build something there. It's a shame there is a pakring lot at the most important intersection of the city. SMH

[Innsertnamehere]

Hamilton is easily the Parking Lot sea just north of Gore Park:

https://i.imgur.com/Up1JX7A.jpg

Luckily, much of it is slated for development. Everything in red is either already developed / recently developed, has an active development application, or recently sold to a developer which will be filing an application soon. Unfortunately, the worst lot right in the middle has had no such development luck yet...

https://i.imgur.com/BGEpX5w.jpg

[esquire]

What a loss. I wish they would actually build something there. It's a shame there is a pakring lot at the most important intersection of the city. SMH

There have been proposals through the years, but unfortunately none of them managed to get off the ground. With the way things are right now, though, I'd imagine it could be a while before we see any more proposals.

It is not the biggest or most obvious surface parking lot in the city, but its proximity to the main intersection in town makes it the worst.

[MolsonExport]

Laval nomination
https://64.media.tumblr.com/b1854139038c1ba3fedd83607bf450ae/tumblr_osdb1qONCY1wslgdco1_1280.jpg
https://www.tumblr.com/clockzillakingoflaval

[WhipperSnapper]

This went fast from worst parking lot to park at to the worst urban blight. I wouldn't know which is the worst to use. In my limited experience, it's a sprawling big box complex from the early days with no order to building placement or Ikea. As an urban blight, that would be the largest in an established urban area a.k.a downtown. I wouldn't know which currently qualifies in Toronto as the largest either. The ones from previous parking lot threads are gone. 400 Front Street West?

[Innsertnamehere]

For Toronto, I would nominate the No Frills lot at Front and Sherbourne. It's very small, and always rammed with customers.

Outside of regular office hours there is an underground lot as well with tons of spaces, but the surface lot regardless is always a zoo. Don't even bother trying to drive to the grocery store during business hours as you just won't get a spot. The spots are all full all day long, usually with a few cars sitting waiting for a spot to free up in the adjacent loading area.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6509593,-79.365972,3a,75y,299.81h,89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxXxP11UBZAH69kYa2VFSXA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DxXxP11UBZAH69kYa2VFSXA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D332.56772%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[SignalHillHiker]

This went fast from worst parking lot to park at to the worst urban blight.

I misunderstood the assignment :haha:

This is the one that annoys me most. One of the locations of my main local vape chain is in here so I often swing by if I happen to be running an errand in the area.

https://i.postimg.cc/bN3CxvwG/Screenshot-2022-12-15-172741.png

The round-about way I have to go to find a lighted intersection is too long, so instead I just wait to turn left here, which, depending on the time of day, can be a while.

https://i.postimg.cc/NfgC2XBq/Screenshot-2022-12-15-172829.png