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Municipal Politics

Setting aside who would is the best mayoral candidate, which is a much larger issue, the parking idea makes sense to me.

The central business district or downtown core is generally fairly busy during the week 9 to 5, so paid parking then makes sense.

However, there is a noticeable drop off after that in the evenings and weekends when there is not an event. So why make people pay then?

It really just discourages some people from coming downtown at a time when more activity is desperately needed.
 
Gronk! said:
www.votejaffer.ca

Jaffer unveils free parking plan to help revive Edmonton — Jaffer for Mayor for all of Edmonton

Edmonton, Alta. – Edmonton mayoral candidate Rahim Jaffer today announced a bold new plan to implement free parking across the city on evenings, weekends, overnight and statutory holidays — part of a broader vision to revive the city’s core and support local businesses. “Free parking is about more
www.votejaffer.ca www.votejaffer.ca

Rahim Jaffer's idea for downtown parking is a good one. However, I'll wait and see how he feels about infill housing, LRT expansion, public transit, bike paths and MUPs, attracting and retaining businesses in the downtown core, being a leader of the hydrogen economy and AI, homelessness, crime, Blatchford, Northlands redevelopment, regional co-operation and other municipal issues before I decide to vote for him.
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So one down, 17 more issues to go! :p
 
City of Edmonton has spent BILLIONS on new LRT lines. Only Americans would be dumb enough to undercut their own investments with free parking. We aren't Americans.
 
trevorhayden said:
City of Edmonton has spent BILLIONS on new LRT lines. Only Americans would be dumb enough to undercut their own investments with free parking. We aren't Americans.
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BILLIONS I say, BILLIONS!

Except people don't ride the LRT for the sake of riding the LRT. They ride the LRT when - and if - they're somewhere and want to be somewhere else and LRT is a faster and/or more affordable and/or more convenient transportation option for people to get to where they want to be.. When it comes to downtown after business hours, somewhere where they want to be is clearly not the case despite having spent BILLIONS on LRT.

Providing free parking after hours isn't anti-LRT, not having sufficient reasons to use it after hours is. Free parking is just one avenue to support the development of an after-hours destination that people may well want to visit using LRT, people that aren't doing so now because they don't want to be there badly enough to take it.
 
trevorhayden said:
City of Edmonton has spent BILLIONS on new LRT lines. Only Americans would be dumb enough to undercut their own investments with free parking. We aren't Americans.
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come on man. Let your ideology have some nuance. Imagine running a business on 104st...

Its january, you live in Hazeldean. It's a 13min drive to Downtown...and you already own the car so most costs are sunk beyond a small gas expense. It's 35min for transit, which costs $7 and involves 7-10min walks on both the start and end of the trip in cold weather.

If parking is $5-10 downtown, you likely just hit up a spot on calgary trail/gateway or southgate for free parking. If it's free, you consider heading downtown still maybe.

Transit can't compete for most people, especially those with more buying power. Uni students, the elderly, and lower income transit users aren't keeping downtown restaurants and retail alive. The middle to upper class edmontontians and families with cars are still needed for most businesses to survive.
 
I still can't believe Salvador's motion that lead to no more free evenings/Sunday parking downtown passed. A really disappointing application of good theory but without any nuanced critical thought. Especially with the money the City is constantly investing into downtown and that's where they decide to step over a dollar to pick up a dime?

You don't tell a strip mall struggling to attract traffic to start charging for parking they're currently providing for free as a way to help shore up finances. A really busy one that is struggling with not having enough parking turnover that it's harming their business? Sure, that makes sense. However at this point, the entirety of the downtown core after business hours is basically one big struggling strip mall and the paltry $1.4m in projected revenue seems like a bad deal for everyone in this equation.

It's already a PITA to get anyone to come meet you downtown. @thommyjo nails it that paying for parking/transit in downtown vs free parking in some suburban location, it's f*** guess we're meeting at Joey's Mayfield again...
 
northlands said:
I still can't believe Salvador's motion that lead to no more free evenings/Sunday parking downtown passed. A really disappointing application of good theory but without any nuanced critical thought. Especially with the money the City is constantly investing into downtown and that's where they decide to step over a dollar to pick up a dime?

You don't tell a strip mall struggling to attract traffic to start charging for parking they're currently providing for free as a way to help shore up finances. A really busy one that is struggling with not having enough parking turnover that it's harming their business? Sure, that makes sense. However at this point, the entirety of the downtown core after business hours is basically one big struggling strip mall and the paltry $1.4m in projected revenue seems like a bad deal for everyone in this equation.

It's already a PITA to get anyone to come meet you downtown. @thommyjo nails it that paying for parking/transit in downtown vs free parking in some suburban location, it's f*** guess we're meeting at Joey's Mayfield again...
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Your argument can also be applied to some builders downtown. For instance, at the Switch, Citizen and View, they provide free guest parking for 2 hours for resident visitors. Contrast that with the Parks and Falcon with no visitor parking. And it's only 30% full at the Parks - they have parking available that is sitting empty.

Just because you offer it for first year or two in operation doesn't mean it has to be permanent. Especially if the building operator is up front about it. We are offering free visitor parking now, but that may change.

Doing so may make more people want to rent a unit in your building and support dt which is a win for everyone with a stake in dt.
 
MacLac said:
Kind of bizarre he led off with "DT parking." Bigger fish to fry Jaffer? Bizarre dude.....next....
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We're approaching the dog days of summer and only the actively engaged are paying any attention so far. This election kicks off after Labour Day and I'm sure he's saving whatever he's staking his campaign on till then.
 
TAS said:
Your argument can also be applied to some builders downtown. For instance, at the Switch, Citizen and View, they provide free guest parking for 2 hours for resident visitors. Contrast that with the Parks and Falcon with no visitor parking. And it's only 30% full at the Parks - they have parking available that is sitting empty.

Just because you offer it for first year or two in operation doesn't mean it has to be permanent. Especially if the building operator is up front about it. We are offering free visitor parking now, but that may change.

Doing so may make more people want to rent a unit in your building and support dt which is a win for everyone with a stake in dt.
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When we lived at The Hendrix, a huge plus was that our friends could often find free street parking in the evenings if visiting. Some would bike or take the train, but some lived farther away and driving was the only reasonable solution.

Free street parking in evenings and weekends also helps the social life and desirability of living downtown.

And again, we’re in a transition zone which makes it hard. In Vancouver and Toronto, there’s so many people living downtown, or transit is so well used, that it’s not as big an issue. But in Edmonton, our transit isn’t quite there (west valley and NW Metro will help a lot), and the residential base is quite small. Most people DT will still have numerous friends all over the city who aren’t interested in paying for transit or parking to come DT. So DT people are forced to own cars and drive to their friends’ often.

Once parking is always full, charge. But until then, don’t add another deterrent. Surely the revenue gained isn’t material to our finances…
 
thommyjo said:
When we lived at The Hendrix, a huge plus was that our friends could often find free street parking in the evenings if visiting. Some would bike or take the train, but some lived farther away and driving was the only reasonable solution.

Free street parking in evenings and weekends also helps the social life and desirability of living downtown.

And again, we’re in a transition zone which makes it hard. In Vancouver and Toronto, there’s so many people living downtown, or transit is so well used, that it’s not as big an issue. But in Edmonton, our transit isn’t quite there (west valley and NW Metro will help a lot), and the residential base is quite small. Most people DT will still have numerous friends all over the city who aren’t interested in paying for transit or parking to come DT. So DT people are forced to own cars and drive to their friends’ often.

Once parking is always full, charge. But until then, don’t add another deterrent. Surely the revenue gained isn’t material to our finances…
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Totally get that point. Should dt apartment developers have that consideration too? Or leave it purely to city to provide the free parking option?
 
TAS said:
Totally get that point. Should dt apartment developers have that consideration too? Or leave it purely to city to provide the free parking option?
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I don’t think they have to provide guest parking, but it can help them fill their building.

Similarly, I don’t think DT parking has to be free in evenings, but it can help fill up DT with people coming to use the parks, shop at retail, and frequent restaurants.

I think it’s all supply and demand. If utilization is high, charge more. If not, drop the price. The dream would be that DT parking cost more than transit eventually. But we’ll need to fill in a lot more parking lots for that to be true.
 
Gronk! said:
Now that Andrew Knack has voted against the CRL (thankfully, the majority won), I'm now considering voting for Rahim Jaffer as mayor.
However, his website needs more work.
More concrete ideas, fewer vague platitudes, and no mistakes.
.
www.votejaffer.ca

Rahim Jaffer for Mayor of Edmonton | Vote Oct.20, 2025

Rahim Jaffer will freeze property taxes, restore public safety, and get City Hall back to basics. See his plan to revive Edmonton. Vote Jaffer for Mayor on Monday, October 20, 2025
www.votejaffer.ca www.votejaffer.ca
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I'm glad the CRL passed, but I understand why he would vote against it. It's a substantial loan, gambled almost entirely on one neighborhood.

It's not the worst thing in the world to want the levy to benefit more parts of the city, and fewer hockey magnates. Still has my vote.
 
trevorhayden said:
City of Edmonton has spent BILLIONS on new LRT lines. Only Americans would be dumb enough to undercut their own investments with free parking. We aren't Americans.
Click to expand...
There is a lot of really smart Americans - look at all the innovation and technology that was invented there that you probably use every day, not to mention incredible contributions to music, literature, food, film etc that Americans have made. It seems like you are making a very narrow minded discriminatory comment - this is not very "progressive".
 
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