To be clear most of the complaining about downtown parking is not the lack of parking but to be more accurate the lack of parking 10 steps from your destination at zero $.
There are likely a couple of thousand parking spots in the downtown when tallied up. They just cost too much and you need to walk a couple of blocks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
You know that your downtown is coming alive and beginning to create a critical mass when parking becomes scarce. Most cities would love to have this kind of dilemma. It's proves that London's downtown gaps are being filled and people want to come to the downtown core after hours and are willing to pay to do it.
That said, obviously London will never create a transit system which is intense enough to entice everyone going downtown to ditch their cars but there are options. Parking garages need not be ugly or even pedestrian unfriendly. Quite the contrary many parking lots can enhance the pedestrian realm and provide needed parking places at the same time. It all comes down to the design and the street frontage. Many cities have created parking garages that are truly striking pieces of architecture and have enhanced the downtown experience. Many cities have rehabilitated old historic structures into parking garages restoring the old historic streetscape and tucking the parking garage behind it.
One only has to look at London's history to see this. The old Covenent Garden Market was actually just the bottom floor of an ugly King Street parking garage but it was still a go-to destination and was always packed with shoppers.
A parking garage is much like an office building. If it is treated as nothing more than a place to put people {or park cars} and the frontage is just a wall of glass or brick then it can be a blight. If however the street level has shops & restaurants, an inviting pedestrian entry, and a pleasant frontage and streetscape then it can be a real asset to the downtown improving both the pedestrian experience and increasing accessibility to it.
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