[OldDartmouthMark]

Thanks for chiming in. I guess it's a little different than I thought it was.

For me, I would feel pretty hemmed in if I didn't have the freedom to travel around the province or elsewhere in the Maritimes that a car affords. Nova Scotia has such diverse and interesting areas to visit that are all just an hour or so from Halifax that it's hard to imagine not being able to visit them. Living downtown would not reduce my desire to be able to take a drive along the sea shore, have a nice lunch and walkabout in Lunenburg or buy some fresh fruit and veggies in the valley. Just shows that there are many different ways to live your life, I suppose.

Just curious, CF, do you know what percentage of parking spaces your building has compared to the number of units?

For excess parking spaces, I would think it would be better if these buildings made some provisions for paid public parking as that would help offset the costs while providing a service to the public.

NE, I have some doubts that restricting the amount of parking spots downtown would do anything except encourage more parking on the street. IMHO, the best way to effectively reduce automobile usage downtown without hurting the downtown economy (i.e. forcing suburban shoppers to go to the box stores rather than shopping downtown) is to provide a transit service that is efficient and convenient.

Regarding wear on our infrastructure, I don't have any data to back this up but I do believe the lion's share of wear and tear on our roads and bridges are caused by large truck traffic, due to their shear axle weight, especially in the winter/spring thaw cycles. And, lack of maintenance which allows water to penetrate the pavement and freeze during the winter.

Presumably, the amount taken in by fuel taxes and bridge tolls should reasonably offset any wear and tear done by regular automobiles.