The Great Canadian Parking Lot Thread!

[Martin Mtl]

No proposal at all for that lot ? That's weird.

[OTSkyline]

Finally something that Ottawa "excells" in... Yes the surface lots around Canadian Tire Centre are bad but our downtown is nothing like that... There is a lot of density and very little empty lots or surface parking.



I think this picture is a couple of years old too... And the couple of ones we currently have are getting filled with developments. I can only think of 2 at the top of my head right now.

[middeljohn]

Is that the one about a block away from Queen and Yonge? Lol I use that parking lot all the time. Only place that's cheap in the core these days.

[ue]

This one has got to be one of the worst offenses for downtown parking lots...the infamous BP Lands in Downtown Edmonton...
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=edmont...,88.45,,0,1.64

[DizzyEdge]

Calgary has traditionally had three main offenders.

1) the blocks at the north end of downtown ( a decade ago the white topped towers didn't exist, so there were 3 1/2 full city blocks of parking lots all together).

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=calga...a,+Canada&z=18

Thankfully, as if a few weeks ago all of the empty lots you see have plans to develop

2) the lots around the tracks at the south end of downtown

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=calga...a,+Canada&z=16

This is former rail industrial land that is only being developed at a glacial pace

3) The East Village

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=calga...a,+Canada&z=17

Many of the vacant blocks which don't have cars in this view did a few years ago.
Luckily the city has been working on developing the entire area, with planned or in progress projects being several towers, a new central library, and the National Music Centre. Every lot here is expected to be developed in the new couple or few decades.

So really #2 is the one shameful area without a lot of plans.

[1ajs]

2 other lots are in planning stages of being built on here in little old winnipeg. including a new tallest see what happens though.

anyhow that houston pic is from the 70's and i would imagin theres quiet a bit of missing history behind what happend in huston

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton's worst example will soon be gone But there are about a dozen more we need filled.


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps06cdc1d5.png)


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1ac0df8b.png)

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

No proposal at all for that lot ? That's weird.

There is. The owner doesn't have the capabilities to built it. There are rumblings that he may have given up selling or partnering with someone that could.

[FrAnKs]

Parking lots in Québec city by me.

[ssiguy]

That huge lot in Toronto has been proposed to be a large European style public plaza with a fountain and only brick condo/apt around the edges where the current buildings are. There have been proposals but the person who owns it steadfastly refuses to sell it.

[ue]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Edmonton's worst example will soon be gone But there are about a dozen more we need filled.


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps06cdc1d5.png)


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1ac0df8b.png)

For me, BP Lands was always the worst offender (linked earlier). Mostly due to its far higher profile on Jasper Ave. Though the Arena Lands is a close second, followed by the Commonwealth Lands.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

2 other lots are in planning stages of being built on here in little old winnipeg. including a new tallest see what happens though.

anyhow that houston pic is from the 70's and i would imagin theres quiet a bit of missing history behind what happend in huston

Which one is the other one?

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

That huge lot in Toronto has been proposed to be a large European style public plaza with a fountain and only brick condo/apt around the edges where the current buildings are. There have been proposals but the person who owns it steadfastly refuses to sell it.

And has that person who owns it offered any clues on what she or he actually intends to actually do with it?

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

That huge lot in Toronto has been proposed to be a large European style public plaza with a fountain and only brick condo/apt around the edges where the current buildings are. There have been proposals but the person who owns it steadfastly refuses to sell it.

Cathedral Square was a "vision" from a UT member, not an actual proposal.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

And has that person who owns it offered any clues on what she or he actually intends to actually do with it?

Posted already. There is an approved plan for 4 28 storeys towers however, the ownership has yet to find the means to build it. Rumours on the forums suggests that may have finally changed.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Posted already. There is an approved plan for 4 28 storeys towers however, the ownership has yet to find the means to build it. Rumours on the forums suggests that may have finally changed.

That lot is so unique in the huge expanse of space it offers surrounded by normal urban fabric. I'd hate to see it become another run of the mill condo project, but I guess almost anything is better than it sitting there as surface parking forever...

[Martin Mtl]

It's a shame that cities can't realistically buy such large parking lots to turn them into square.

[WhipperSnapper]

A nice city park would work but I have a tough time in a square being successful. It's surroundings are wrong and this former church site is too narrow to built it's own surroundings.

More condos would help mix up the disproportionate amount of poor in the vicinity.

[Cyro]

Here's a few comparison shots of what Winnipeg is dealing with, posted in another thread earlier.

Originally Posted by trueviking

comparison btw 1946 & 2013

Originally Posted by trueviking

There is a concerted effort at this point to rid Winnipeg of this blight as these lot's are ever so slowly being filled in as mentioned earlier, This Prairie City has always had the choice to expand outward with it's geography, the point of least resistance, Hence the neglect of it's core and economic problems of the 80-90's.

Things are changing for the better imo, and Winnipeg's renaissance has begun.

[ssiguy]

Those maps showing parking are just too cool...where do you get them?