Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrus
Welcome to the forum.
We don't like parking podiums because they harm the walkability of the street. Pedestrians need things to be visually interesting, or a sidewalk feels barren and dangerous, and therefore people drive instead of walk. That's why Larimer Square is a nicer place to walk than, say, Court Place.
Parking garages aren't the worst option. They're much better than surface parking, and some garages are better than others. But it's a very dubious claim that they're "more green" than underground parking. By making the street less walkable, they push people into pollution-spewing cars over the entire life of the building, and that almost surely overrides whatever marginal reduction in emissions might be saved during construction.
But a building with a parking podium is better than no building at all, so as long as we take good efforts to make the podiums as attractive and interesting as possible, it's all good. |
I completely agree with every point you make in your post, except possibly for the one I highlighted. I am not 100% convinced that these structures are "forever."
I think they are necessary for the time being, because of the reasons you state that they are a lot better option than surface parking, and because underground parking may oftentimes be cost prohibitive. And I suppose I can't predict the future better than anyone else... but if we use the past as an example, it would tell us that people's fundamental lifestyles oftentimes change faster than well built buildings.
Downtown will, no doubt, always need more parking than in the pre-automobile era; but I could see there being a day where it finally reaches a "critical mass" to support pedestrian and transit accessible lifestyles. If that point ever comes, and if it makes economic sense, there is no reason
structurally that these couldn't be the adaptive reuse projects of the next generation. I've seen a lot stranger structures than these adapted for modern uses. Solidly constructed, and often occupying floors 2-6ish, this could actually be prime square footage if the parking ever becomes less of a commodity. Just my 2 cents on the matter.
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