Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
^ Not to get picky, but one of my biggest gripes about these retail centers with rear parking is when they also provide rear entrances to the retail space.
It really aggravates me, because it's nothing short of an inverted strip mall. People simply drive into the parking lot, walk into the store, get back into their car, and leave without ever stepping foot onto the sidewalk.
To sometimes makes matters worse, store owners even close 1 entrance (usually the sidewalk one) so that pedestrians actually have to walk around to the back of the building to get into the store--not good for the streetscape. IMO, it's not enough to 'maintain the streetwall' as a formality; we must also encourage sidewalk activity. If you look at the PDF, there are sidewalks behind the store. What ever happened to alleys being the ugly afterthought whose sole purpose was storage and delivery?
The city needs to step up and do something about this, perhaps making it illegal to have public entrances in the backs of buildings. It's a really bad precedent
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Here I strongly disagree with you. Parking is gonna come whether you want it or not. The ONLY question is, parking lot in back, or in front? The choice is easy for me.
Also, try telling someone who just parked their car, in the middle of a snowstorm, or late at night, that they need to walk around the building through some dank little corridor to get to the front. It's not pleasant, it's not safe, and it will only discourage commercial activity and development.