The Great Canadian Parking Lot Thread!

[entheosfog]

Vancouver used to have a huge number of downtown parking lots. This photo is from 1960:

The high res is worth a look:
http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/u...be7-A23492.jpg
There are other pictures that highlight the abundance of Vancouver's parking lots but this is all I could find while doing a quick search.

Many of the empty lots have been filled in but there are still a few stragglers.
This lot is perhaps the biggest lot left downtown. It used to be the site of a bus depot and has sat empty for many decades. There is talk the new art gallery could be built on this site:

Future Art Gallery Site? by entheos_fog, on Flickr

And some historic comparisons of parking lots being built out:

Law Courts Site - 1971/2012 by entheos_fog, on Flickr


NW Corner of Davie & Howe - 1981/2012 by entheos_fog, on Flickr


1000 Block of Homer - 1981/2011 by entheos_fog, on Flickr


1000 Block of Alberni Street - 1974/2010 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

[flar]

Originally Posted by worldwide

I think the buildings are demolished and turned in to parking lots for tax purposes more so than because they are viable parking lots. i think the math looks like this:

parking income minus property tax on a parking lot

is greater than:

potential rental income minus building property tax and maintenance


this is especially true of vacant or abandoned buildings.

the city is also more likely to approve a shoddy building design on a parking lot/vacant lot than if an existing building is on site. this would be more true of a city like london, On or Regina, Sk than Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver who tend to have higher standards for any new construction, period.

And the whole situation feeds on itself, as the owners of these lots want Toronto prices for them and are willing to hold onto them indefinitely. So more stuff gets demolished whenever somebody actually wants to put up a new building.

[SignalHillHiker]

In St. John's, most of the small surface parking lots are the result of the accidental loss of the heritage buildings located on the site, typically by fire. Some were the result of intentional demolitions.

The reason the handful that we have are still surface parking lots is generally because owners are waiting for a council that won't hold them to our extensive and expensive heritage regulations for new construction downtown. They're hoping to be able to combine these small lots with surrounding properties, destroy any buildings on them, and build something bigger and new. Or they're hoping to sneak in something small and cheap-looking without having to pay to create expensive, authentic heritage features.

[Biff]

eeeeeesh, here is one of downtown Winnipeg. My hand is sore from outlining.

Red = barren wasteland
Green = to be redeveloped (underway or shortly)

[Symz]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

In St. John's, most of the small surface parking lots are the result of the accidental loss of the heritage buildings located on the site, typically by fire. Some were the result of intentional demolitions.

It's the same situation in Windsor. In the early 1900's there was a great fire in our downtown which cooked alot of the heritage buildings. Also ever since the city has been steadily tearing down anything that is old.

For a city settled in 1749 you would think Windsor was built in the 1960's..

[north 42]

^^^

Yeah, we have lost so much of our history over the decades. Hopefully we don't lose any more historic buildings in the future.

[The_Architect]

A lot of the Toronto posts are forgetting one huge one... The one currently right across from the ACC on Bay.

It does have sort of a plan to become an office tower/bus depot, but really it's been maybe a render or two, some mumbling, and nothing else.

[SignalHillHiker]

Ooh, mapping was a good idea.

I found more than I realized we had. There are a few that I skipped - that's because, despite appearances, they're actually the visible top floor of a parkade, not a surface lot:



I also excluded one that's becoming a Marriott Hotel.

EDIT: Aww, my picture got cut off. And right above a big one (Delta Hotel parking lot) as well. Just know there's one more big one at the bottom left.

[Andrewjm3D]

Originally Posted by Mrs Sauga

I know Toronto has some nasty lots south of the railway but I don't think they've every had anything on them.

First the lake was there, then piers, then railway tracks and roundhouses and warehouses, now it's a few remaining parking lots. If you look at pictures taken 10 years ago there were a sea of parking lots all but gone now except the few you mentioned.

From blog.to

[Andrewjm3D]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Why are there so many people parking in downtown Hamilton?

Sadly as Hamilton hit hard times and many of the building owners couldn't afford to maintain their structures. It was cheaper for them to tear them down and generate revenue from parking even if the lot was only ever half full. It's a shame so many amazing structures were lost due to economic reasons. This is the same reason why a lot of parking lots are where they are in many Canadian cities.

At least Hamilton still has a huge amount of heritage structures and when things start to roll again these lots are in great locations for highrises to go.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

Sadly as Hamilton hit hard times and many of the building owners couldn't afford to maintain their structures. It was cheaper for them to tear them down and generate revenue from parking even if the lot was only ever half full. It's a shame so many amazing structures were lost due to economic reasons. This is the same reason why a lot of parking lots are where they are in many Canadian cities.

At least Hamilton still has a huge amount of heritage structures and when things start to roll again these lots are in great locations for highrises to go.

Yet we have some people wanting to tear down the existing buildings to "possibly build a grocery store or something, maybe".

[flar]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

At least Hamilton still has a huge amount of heritage structures and when things start to roll again these lots are in great locations for highrises to go.

At some point this seemingly endless stock of old buildings is going to run out. Now that there are actually a few projects happening, the rate of loss seems to be increasing. These parking lots never seem to get developed because they are ridiculously overpriced.

[Andrewjm3D]

The city of Hamilton should consider free street parking during the day to kill the profits at these lots making them less valuable. Developers might then buy them for projects saving old structures for future reuse.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

The city of Hamilton should consider free street parking during the day to kill the profits at these lots making them less valuable. Developers might then buy them for projects saving old structures for future reuse.

Or just strengthen their heritage laws to stop developers from being able to demolish the historic structures in the first place.

[someone123]

I think the best solution would be to reform the tax structure to focus on land, not improvements. The assessment system creates an artificial incentive to minimize property values, which is not what cities actually want.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

The city of Hamilton should consider free street parking during the day to kill the profits at these lots making them less valuable. Developers might then buy them for projects saving old structures for future reuse.

They are already doing that on weekends, holidays and weekday nights after 6 (I believe). Doesn't really have any noticeable effect.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Acajack

They are few and far between in downtown Ottawa (CBD) and fading fast.

The biggest one that was left was at Lisgar and Metcalfe, but even in the Google Streetview it is under construction for condos:

http://goo.gl/maps/ugn3l

There's a fairly large lot at Kent and Queen across from Holt Renfrew that is begging to be developed.

[Andrewjm3D]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Or just strengthen their heritage laws to stop developers from being able to demolish the historic structures in the first place.

They can strengthen heritage laws all they want, as long as the landlords have no other option then to board up buildings and let them rot due to lack of finances for upkeep and repair the buildings will still be lost. What I don't understand about Hamilton is why developers even build new when there are so many amazing old buildings sitting empty. But this topic should be in it's own thread.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

First the lake was there, then piers, then railway tracks and roundhouses and warehouses, now it's a few remaining parking lots. If you look at pictures taken 10 years ago there were a sea of parking lots all but gone now except the few you mentioned.

From blog.to

Boy, has Toronto changed in 46 years! So has also Vancouver.

Winnipeg seems to have a lot to do to get rid of those awful parking lots. Good to see some progress underway nonetheless.

[J.OT13]

Nice to see the MTL skyline fill up around the Molson Centre, but do they have a plan to replace parking for the arena? I get that we want to encourage people to take the Metro, but you can't expect everyone to take it. Or maybe the office buildings in the area can handle the parking needs?