Calgary Parking Authority cleans house

[lucky1]

calgary is not london......

[SebC]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

Have you compared our rates to the rest of the cities in NA?

Way out of whack for a praire city of a million

It's a supply issue, not a pricing issue.

And "how is ownership of all inventions goes to the city" not a standard boilerplate clause in those guys' contracts? Or is it?

[Bunk]

Are people aware of the origins of downtown Calgary's high parking rates?

It goes way back to the 1960s when the City decided to restict the amount of parking that could be built with new office construction. It started with a rather narrow area immediately around the main transit corridors through the core, but then has expanded to cover most of the downtown. The intent was to limit parking with the knowledge you couldn't forever expand the number of road lanes going in and out of downtown and attempting to get more people to use public transit. Extremely forward thinking for its time.

From this standpoint it has been one of the most successful public policies in the city's history. Yes, parking is really expensive, and certainly short term parking in particular needs addressing, but without it, would we have LA style freeways bisecting our downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods? What if the "downtown penetrator" freeways had been built - we would have a horribly ugly and unusable riverfront. Inglewood wouldn't exist. Chinatown obliterated.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Are people aware of the origins of downtown Calgary's high parking rates?

It goes way back to the 1960s when the City decided to restict the amount of parking that could be built with new office construction. It started with a rather narrow area immediately around the main transit corridors through the core, but then has expanded to cover most of the downtown. The intent was to limit parking with the knowledge you couldn't forever expand the number of road lanes going in and out of downtown and attempting to get more people to use public transit. Extremely forward thinking for its time.

From this standpoint it has been one of the most successful public policies in the city's history. Yes, parking is really expensive, and certainly short term parking in particular needs addressing, but without it, would we have LA style freeways bisecting our downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods? What if the "downtown penetrator" freeways had been built - we would have a horribly ugly and unusable riverfront. Inglewood wouldn't exist. Chinatown obliterated.

That is all fine and good until it turned into a big money grab with small minded people who enjoy their job of giving out tickets too much.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

Have you compared our rates to the rest of the cities in NA?

Way out of whack for a praire city of a million

Have you compared the CTrain's weekday ridership with the rest of the cities in NA?

Way out of whack for a city of a million anywhere in northern NA.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by JustAnotherGuy

That is all fine and good until it turned into a big money grab with small minded people who enjoy their job of giving out tickets too much.

Yes, the CPA is a different matter than the parking policy. Just making a point about the origins of why parking is expensive in Calgary. It's a tradeoff - expensive parking, but lots of other benefits as a result.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Yes, the CPA is a different matter than the parking policy. Just making a point about the origins of why parking is expensive in Calgary. It's a tradeoff - expensive parking, but lots of other benefits as a result.

I agree with the parking policy.

[V]

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

If you park legally you have nothing to worry about people. Follow the rules, it's just that simple.

Oh man, I'm hoping you're trying to be "that guy" just to be funny. I had more faith in you than this...

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Are people aware of the origins of downtown Calgary's high parking rates?

It goes way back to the 1960s when the City decided to restict the amount of parking that could be built with new office construction. It started with a rather narrow area immediately around the main transit corridors through the core, but then has expanded to cover most of the downtown. The intent was to limit parking with the knowledge you couldn't forever expand the number of road lanes going in and out of downtown and attempting to get more people to use public transit. Extremely forward thinking for its time.

From this standpoint it has been one of the most successful public policies in the city's history. Yes, parking is really expensive, and certainly short term parking in particular needs addressing, but without it, would we have LA style freeways bisecting our downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods? What if the "downtown penetrator" freeways had been built - we would have a horribly ugly and unusable riverfront. Inglewood wouldn't exist. Chinatown obliterated.

And that's all good, if transit was able to keep up with the extra demand. As it stands now I believe we're choking off access to the core because both parking and transit are basically saturated. And I don't want to see this city decentralized - I think it hurts labour mobility, amongst other things.