IanO
Superstar
ONLY if they repurpose those beams!
I wonder what percentage of their customers were from downtown and Oliver vs those who had to drive.Headed to the west end because when surveyed, their customers wanted free parking out front.
My guess is that this building is one of the ones getting the the Edmonton Economic Recovery Construction Grant Program. Pull it ahead one year and go tax free till 2027 does sound like a good plan.Interesting...seems fast to me? I assumed they would wait till 22'. Aren't the retail bays still teeming with a....Money Mart and Queen Donair?
Our City pays a high price for all the metered parking downtown. We are not NYC or even Toronto where the concentration of large corporate offices and residents supports a lot of retail despite limited or expensive parking.Headed to the west end because when surveyed, their customers wanted free parking out front.
This has been a well known problem in the city since the Arena was opened. I've given this story a few times on C2E and all people talk about is "lost revenue from metering".I know one of their customers from the SW who complained about a lack of free parking so she avoids it in one breath and how Downtown is devoid of shopping and an urban experience in the other.
Quite the correlation conundrum.
It's weird @David A & @Stevey_G I was just downtown yesterday evening and thought the EXACT same thing. Especially during the past year, downtown desperately needs folks coming back during the evenings. Yet the city apparently cannot afford to lose all their precious after hours parking revenue
Parking is one of the weirdest things like that too. It's like the straw that breaks the camel's back every time. I got a buddy who one time told me about how he stopped going to Oiler games because parking was such an expensive pain in the ass. So spending $200+ on tickets for him an his girlfriend, $100 for dinner before the game, $80 on food and drinks at the game, $40 on 50/50 tickets was all fine but the $15 to park is what killed it for him.
You could make the argument that before this year, Oiler's games didn't add much value either.The issue is already here, so we have to deal with it, but this whole parking issue and the bad impact that metered parking has for Downtown is a reflex of a bigger issue: North America's addiction to cars.
Considering that this is not gonna change, I agree that metered parking essentially 24/7 is harmful, stupid and benefits no one. We should get at least 2hrs free, after a certain point of the day (6pm or so).
I think the biggest issue with spending $15 in parking is that it doesn't add any value in itself AND it is expensive for something that is so annoying (finding a parking spot in the street, close to where you want to go). I bet he wouldn't complain if it was $15 for underground, heated parking, less than a block from his destination and with valet service, for example.
I'm very ideologically opposed to free (heavily subsidized) parking, but this makes sense. I mean, people should have to pay when it's busy, it's a way of controlling demand. the issue is we have very little demand, and not a lot of other good options to get downtown at present. if you live away from the LRT, or more than a 20-min bike ride from downtown, easy access is only by car. WE OUGHTTA FIX THAT, but in the meantime there's pleeennnty of pavement to let people use, especially during off-peak times. until we improve other means of access, people will need to drive. and while this is something we need to watch closely so we don't wind up inspiring a revival of METS or anything crazy, but there's car space already there that can be better allocated/used.What about those with major investments in parkades and parking lots?
My biggest pet peeve is after 6pm fees and Saturday parking.
Get rid of those and Downtown has a chance.