The Great Canadian Parking Lot Thread!
I don't think it needs explanation. Let's see them. Everybody's favorite landscape of the 21st century, parking lots! There are lots of parking, and lots of parking lots. Thus lots of parking lots of parking lots of parking lots of parking lots of parking.
I can think of no better place to start this thread than Laval. https://www.smartcentres.com/app/upl...020-AERIAL.jpg smartcentres.com The miltonization of the universe: https://www.smartcentres.com/app/upl...020-AERIAL.jpg stupidcentres.com |
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https://www.smartcentres.com/app/upl...020-AERIAL.jpg
https://www.kpaularchitect.com/templ...4-dcaa526c.jpg Someone needs to hit these things with their car: https://www.marnaconstruction.com/im...11_cropped.JPG |
Corndoggerland
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Beautiful downtown Vaughan:
https://d3e1m60ptf1oym.cloudfront.ne...29_xgaplus.jpg stockaerialphotos Mississauga represent: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...own-centre.jpg https://www.canada-outlets.com/uploa...8132bbe390.jpg HeartlessLandTurdCentre |
This is torture. But...
There are a few large parking lots along Harbour Drive, or within the middle of rowhouse blocks: https://i.postimg.cc/wj5Rcmdp/1.png (Harbour Drive is reclaimed land, so there's nothing historic behind the backs of the Water Street buildings, which used to all end at the water) And one big one behind the Murray Premises: https://i.postimg.cc/prg5kQT2/222.png Churchill Square, the main commercial area in the Churchill Park neighbourhood, has as its central hub a parking lot: https://i.postimg.cc/X7CCqPHX/3.png Typical suburban commercial strips, radiating out from the core. This one is Elizabeth Avenue. There are a painful number of others: https://i.postimg.cc/YSpGXCpm/4.png The Confederation Building (our post-Confederation legislature): https://i.postimg.cc/vZw6Vvkh/5.png And once you get far enough into the wilderness, power centres... https://i.postimg.cc/4yKhz2XL/6.png |
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How about threads celebrating: Storm water management ponds Hydro transformer stations Self Storage Unit properties Sewage Treatment Plants Tim Horton's Drive Thru patterns Former fast food chain sites now abandoned |
Artisanal cupcake shoppes
Olive oil emporiums |
What would be interesting to see would be parking lots that are less than the usual absolute wretchedness. I don't know; maybe with some nice planters, green islands, parkades (parking garages) that don't immediately such your soul, etc.
The obverse of this: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...N_ftA&usqp=CAU |
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https://www.wrtdesign.com/uploads/at...tpar01.max.jpg |
If parking was never free (even in the small towns)...what kind of effect would that have on Canadian cities?
Imagine if even Tim Hortons had to charge $2 per hour parking, no matter what? And drive thus were eliminated? Would big box barf have the same appeal? |
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Retail at grade helps, like this one in Kensington:https://goo.gl/maps/J3VNu1YVagk5BwmS8
Or this one on Queen: https://goo.gl/maps/kwwXLMXEJ5iQKevs6 At this point I think just about every major parking lot in downtown Toronto has been accounted for for some form of redevelopment or another, except this big one on Richmond which inexplicably holds on as the surrounding neighbourhood has been built up: https://goo.gl/maps/tjnoouJDuvwsYKNG6 Likewise with this one at Bloor & Church - that's some prime real estate they're sitting on: https://goo.gl/maps/K4QCxury4ugEWew17 |
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Storm water ponds could also be interesting (and included in water/sewage treatment). |
A few decent parking structures in Ottawa.
Place Bell parking, which includes street level retail. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...-_Metcalfe.jpg https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Place_Bell Mondrian condo podium, with street level retail. http://www.ottawacondonetwork.com/wp...324Laurier.jpg http://www.ottawacondonetwork.com/co...-the-mondrian/ At the heart of the ByWard Market, with partial retail on two fronts (could be demolished and replaced with a 3-4 floor "destination" building within 10 years). https://postmediaottawacitizen2.file...trip=all&w=564 https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...or-renovations Glebe parking garage, with severe water infiltration issues. https://postmediaottawacitizen2.file...trip=all&w=564 https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...awsuits-linger Bayshore Shopping Centre. Due to its tight location, the mall's parking is almost exclusively within parking structures, all rebuilt between 2009 and 2016. https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/me...3/bayshore.jpg https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractio...a_Ontario.html And for those clamoring for surface parking, St-Laurent Shopping Centre, directly linked to underground transit since 1987: https://dynamicmedia.zuza.com/zz/m/o...c_Gallery.jpeg https://www.toronto.com/news-story/3...-in-the-works/ Of course Train Yards, in the heart of the city. Rapid transit just across the VIA tracks, but no way to get there. https://www.shopping-canada.com/uplo...Yards-plan.jpg https://www.shopping-canada.com/shop...wa-train-yards Kanata Centrum, not far from the Canadian Tire Centre. https://ottawacyclist.com/wp-content...ataCentrum.png https://ottawacyclist.com/shopping-by-bike/ |
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The one at Church and Bloor is owned by the hospital next door from my understanding, and they plan to eventually expand onto I believe. Most remaining lots in the core that aren't accounted for with development are like the one at church and bloor - owned by some institutional buyer who is no hurry to redevelop. There is one at Dundas and Bond which is owned by the St Michaels Cathedral, the parking lot behind the Metropolitan Church is owned by them, The lot at Elizabeth and Gerrard is owned by UofT, etc. |
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What about a thread of these advertising signs that spin around in the wind. https://goo.gl/maps/AbceLoPSUjkhdUGY6 |
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Horrible parking structures suck the life out of the street, especially when the ground floor is part of the parking (As opposed to retail, etc.). I wish there was a way to compel developers to make these structures, and parking lots in general, less fugly. |
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I hate those signs. The worst are the black rental signs with the yellow block lettering. |
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