Downtown Parking

[jammer139]

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.

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.

[kaiserLDN]

A report about parking.

http://www.lfpress.com/2017/12/01/report-recommends-more-garages-and-deals-with-private-partners

[jammer139]

Yes the article has stats that just confirm the issue is not lack of spaces. 15,400 plus spaces already exist and only 71% occupied. The only concern expressed is that the City doesn't control a high enough percentage of those spaces. Not really a problem then. The number of surface lots can be reduced by future developments and high property taxes. Hopefully with mandatory underground parking being incorporated into the designs.

[jammer139]

City Council still debating parking.

http://www.lfpress.com/2017/12/29/parking-flip-flops-spotlight-friction

[jammer139]

Downtown parking debates continue.



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/sh...-3-year-extension-from-council-1.6869579

[GreatTallNorth2]

The people who think free parking downtown will somehow fix the downtown problems are out to lunch. The problem with downtown is not the parking. I can go anywhere in the city and park for free. I can also avoid 99% of the problems that downtown has by going to Masonville or White Oaks. The problem with downtown remains there is little to no reason to go downtown. The only reason to go would be to go to an event at Bud Gardens or some other unique event. People will pay for parking if there is something to actually do or see. For example, the Knights sell out despite the parking cost. Until there are more unique attractions downtown, then they are wasting their time with parking debate and studies.

On another note, stop allowing developers to sit on parking lots in prime downtown lots. Or at least tax them for what would be the highest use in that spot.

[ssiguy]

As I stated in the general parking thread, city built and run parking garages can be a financial win for the downtown and city's tax base. A cheap rate parking garage makes the privately owned parking lots less competitive and hence become financial burdens as their revenue doesn't cover their tax bill nor the payments on their loans and hence they will get rid of it and will be bought by developers almost always with the intention of residential.

These residential units will pay exponentially more tax revenue than a parking lot so the city quickly regains the initial cost of the parking garage and yet gets more tax revenue on a long term basis, gets much needed housing built, creates a more populated and hence vibrant downtowns and makes for a more complete streetscape especially when they are attractive and have retail at the base.

Building a low-rate parking garage can be one of the best investments a mid-size city can make in it's downtown core.

[Djeffery]

Most of the parking lots downtown have been parking lots for decades, and the owners have long made their money back on them. Parking isn't expensive in DT London to begin with. The city can spend tens of millions on a parking garage but those longtime lot owners have location and low overhead on their side to weather a price war with the city. People will still pay more to park right next to where they want to be, even if the city has a cut rate lot a couple blocks away.

[jammer139]

Updated LFP piece on the downtown parking debate.


https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/city...-parking-lots-amid-push-to-build-housing

[bolognium]

Always find the LFPress comments section fascinating. Are the idiots commenting on this article representative of Londoners on average, or is LFPress just massively skewed towards suburban out-of-touch boomers that feel completely entitled to their car-centric lifestyle?

If these people hate downtown so much, why do they even care about these parking lots? Sometimes I genuinely wonder if these fogeys are bored in their retirement, and are just trolling us to pass the time.

[ssiguy]

This is yet another example of why London needs to build a downtown parking garage with VERY affordable rates. The idea that downtown London can survive without parking is absurd. It may work in big cities with huge rapid transit systems but London doesn't qualify and neither does any Canadian city under one million.

Certainly the city should be encouraging transit and active mobility to get people downtown but people will always want to go downtown by car regardless. Everyone outside the city needs a car to get there and people just can't write them off with all the spending power they bring.

Sifton says that the property has 67 spots and they are needed and the reality is that they maybe right. The issue is that do you want 6 lots holding 350 parking spots or one lot freeing up the other 5 for residential/commerical? It's called consolidation. People may lament the lose of those 350 parking spots if not replaced but won't if they are.

It's not the number of parking spots in downtown London that is the problem but rather how much land they occupy.

[bolognium]

Downtown has tons of parking! The problem is that people have been conditioned to expect parking at the doorstep of their destination. The massive lots just north of the tracks are never full, and are 10x bigger than this small lot Sifton is moaning about.

But then desk jockeys would have to walk one, two, maybe even three blocks before sitting down in their climate-controlled office for 8 hours.

I do support a central garage, but I'm fairly certain people will continue complaining regardless of where it's placed. We need to teach people it's okay to park and walk!

[CanadianTalk]

City Council's planning committee voted unanimously tonight to refuse Sifton's request for a 3-year extension to their 28 year-old "temporary" parking lot beside One London Place, and instead voted to accept city staff's recommendation for a 1-year extension, with the hope that Sifton can come up with a redevelopment plan for the site.

CTV article: https://london.ctvnews.ca/time-might-be-...ary-parking-in-downtown-london-1.6438396

Also, tomorrow at council's Civic Works Committee, they will be considering city staff's recommendation to approve the redevelopment of 185 Queens Avenue "for the purposes of a mixed-use development including affordable and market units and a privately owned and operated parking garage that provides both public and reserve parking."

Staff report: https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=99878

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I agree with @ssiguy above that having a parking garage is much better than having several surface parking lots. I am looking forward to seeing the plans for the city's proposed redevelopment. Yes this may mean that people have to park a bit farther than where they wish to go, but converting these lots to apartment buildings for an example (which would have hundreds of residents) would certainly be a lot better for the downtown.

And lol @bolognium, regarding the LFP comment section. Usually the comments on there are so ridiculous - though I must say they can be quite funny at times .

[jammer139]

The proposed 185 Queens parking and residential project is resurrected. Will be interesting to see how much interest there will be from the development community to partner with the city on this idea. Especially given the city will want to included affordable housing in the mix which may likely make it unappealing to many developers. This will be fun to watch.

[jammer139]

Sifton letter for debate at council regarding parking at 221 Queens St.


Council Mtg this week should be interesting indeed.



https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=100244

[jammer139]

Private parking lot price jump. $5 for 15 mins.


https://london.ctvnews.ca/a-lot-of-compl...ate-parking-lot-rate-increases-1.6510972

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Private parking lot price jump. $5 for 15 mins.


https://london.ctvnews.ca/a-lot-of-compl...ate-parking-lot-rate-increases-1.6510972

What's the issue? A business in a popular location making up for a couple years of lost revenue? I get it, everyone has a hate on for parking lots downtown now, but why should they have to follow a different business model than any other business who charges what the market will bear?

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

What's the issue? A business in a popular location making up for a couple years of lost revenue? I get it, everyone has a hate on for parking lots downtown now, but why should they have to follow a different business model than any other business who charges what the market will bear?

I never pay. For one, private lots tickets don't mean anything. Second, I use London lots as you can use the HONK app and use the CORE promo for 2 hours free parking anytime you desire.

[jammer139]

Market parking undergoing "structural repairs". Half the parking is now unavailable until October when the work is expected to be completed.


https://london.ctvnews.ca/parking-spaces-in-short-supply-1.6561813


This is a relatively new building and seems rather strange that structural repairs are needed already. Would be nice to get more details on what exactly these repairs are about.

[Djeffery]

Isn't the Market pushing 25 years old? Doesn't seem to be out of the question for some minor repair work at that time frame to me.