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Parking in Waterloo Region
(11-29-2017, 04:30 PM)rangersfan Wrote: A while back there was a discussion on here about  a potential parking garage in the Charles St/Water St area.
An article that is talking about budgeting for such a project if required in the future is linked below :

https://www.google.ca/url?q=https://www....ARg3RVPEfT

I wonder why the City wouldn't add public or private parking requirement to the underground footprint of all new buildings and use the earmarked lands for future building development?
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(12-02-2017, 10:16 PM)MacBerry Wrote: I wonder why the City wouldn't add public or private parking requirement to the underground footprint of all new buildings and use the earmarked lands for future building development?

I think the basic direction is to reduce the amount of parking in each building.
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(12-02-2017, 10:26 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(12-02-2017, 10:16 PM)MacBerry Wrote: I wonder why the City wouldn't add public or private parking requirement to the underground footprint of all new buildings and use the earmarked lands for future building development?

I think the basic direction is to reduce the amount of parking in each building.

It’s well-established in the reality based community that parking requirements are usually utterly bogus. If it is the democratic will of the people that they want to provide cheap or free parking for drivers, then they need to pony up the tax dollars to do it, not hide it in the cost of development. This could be done by doing deals with developers — there is a selling price for parking at which developers will build parking garages into their buildings. It just happens to be way above the market price of parking, mostly because the city has forced previous developers to build absurd amounts of parking, resulting in a glut and extremely low market prices for parking. So yes, it’s time to end the insanity.
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Even if the amount of per capita parking is reduced, increasing the number of people, or reasons for people to be in the area (theatres, stores, what-have-you), will mean that some level of parking will need to be included, just as other transit and transportation improvements need to be considered too. If developers can be encouraged to host a public parking structure below their building as an incentive, a major transit stop in front of their building,or a public square to bring life to the street, so be it.
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(12-04-2017, 02:23 PM)nms Wrote: Even if the amount of per capita parking is reduced, increasing the number of people, or reasons for people to be in the area (theatres, stores, what-have-you), will mean that some level of parking will need to be included, just as other transit and transportation improvements need to be considered too.  If developers can be encouraged to host a public parking structure below their building as an incentive, a major transit stop in front of their building,or a public square to bring life to the street, so be it.

Developers don’t need an incentive to install the correct amount of parking. They can figure it out from their estimate of what market pricing will support, the same as they figure out what size the bedrooms in their condo units should be and whether the countertops should be formica, granite, or quartz.
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This strikes me as a strange solution (page 11):
   

Charge the vendors to park off-site at a reduced rate? Why not charge the customers when demand is highest?
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(03-29-2018, 10:18 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: This strikes me as a strange solution (page 11):


Charge the vendors to park off-site at a reduced rate? Why not charge the customers when demand is highest?

That is very bizarre.  

And frankly, the parking challenges at the market have nothing to do with not enough parking.  Charles and Benton is relatively far away, but the giant parking garage at Duke and Scott seems to have market parking (free IIRC) only one block away but is virtually empty.  People fight for spaces, block the road and drive on the sidewalk on Market Ln. only dozens of meters away from hundreds of empty parking spaces.  There's literally no reason for this to occur.

And yes, I was utterly shocked to discover parking was free at the market. I mean, WTF.
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(03-29-2018, 11:10 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(03-29-2018, 10:18 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: This strikes me as a strange solution (page 11):


Charge the vendors to park off-site at a reduced rate? Why not charge the customers when demand is highest?

That is very bizarre.  

And frankly, the parking challenges at the market have nothing to do with not enough parking.  Charles and Benton is relatively far away, but the giant parking garage at Duke and Scott seems to have market parking (free IIRC) only one block away but is virtually empty.  People fight for spaces, block the road and drive on the sidewalk on Market Ln. only dozens of meters away from hundreds of empty parking spaces.  There's literally no reason for this to occur.

And yes, I was utterly shocked to discover parking was free at the market.  I mean, WTF.

I was at Duke and Scott a few months ago and found that it was very much non-free, like low teens of dollars for a few hours.

But yes, the parking situation at the market has gotten ridiculous.
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(03-29-2018, 11:23 PM)plam Wrote:
(03-29-2018, 11:10 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: That is very bizarre.  

And frankly, the parking challenges at the market have nothing to do with not enough parking.  Charles and Benton is relatively far away, but the giant parking garage at Duke and Scott seems to have market parking (free IIRC) only one block away but is virtually empty.  People fight for spaces, block the road and drive on the sidewalk on Market Ln. only dozens of meters away from hundreds of empty parking spaces.  There's literally no reason for this to occur.

And yes, I was utterly shocked to discover parking was free at the market.  I mean, WTF.

I was at Duke and Scott a few months ago and found that it was very much non-free, like low teens of dollars for a few hours.

But yes, the parking situation at the market has gotten ridiculous.

IIRC, you hit the daily max ($14.50) pretty quickly at the city garages. I want to say it's within 3 1/2 hours or something like that.
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The Market square garage is free on saturdays and most nearby lots are $2.25 per hour.
http://www.kitchenermarket.ca/en/resourc..._PROOF.pdf

While very reasonable that is still more than you pay going Sobey's or Zehrs though which probably what they are concerned about.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(03-29-2018, 10:18 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: Why not charge the customers when demand is highest?

I guess you've never tried driving or riding your bike on Cedar on a Saturday morning between Duke and King.

By offering less expensive parking at an alternate location, the jam that occurs from people trying to park in the Kitchener Market parking area, and it constantly getting full with the ensuing confusion of what the line of cars waiting to go in will do, this should clear up Cedar.
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I know Cedar is a mess during market days. So is Market Ln. I just don't think that cheaper paid parking relatively far away will do anything to attract people away from free parking under the market.
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I don’t think I realized the market parking was free...

A better option to clear up Cedar might be to lower the rate at the Scott/Duke lot, and then add a fee at the Market, although then you risk turning people away.

Maybe a transition period where the Scott/Duke lot is also free for a year, then you add the fee at the Market, so word-of-mouth gets around?
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(03-30-2018, 07:14 AM)Canard Wrote: I guess you've never tried driving or riding your bike on Cedar on a Saturday morning between Duke and King.

Actually my family cycles to the market probably 8 months a year.

The Duke/Scott lot is free. My point was if they charged at the market then maybe more people would choose the Duke/Scott lot and lessen the chaos on Ceder/Duke/Eby/King.

It is amazing people will walk 60m across a Zehr's parking lot, but somehow perceive 150m from the Duke and Scott lot down market lane to the market as some insurmountable barrier.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(03-30-2018, 07:06 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: The Market square garage is free on saturdays and most nearby lots are $2.25 per hour.
http://www.kitchenermarket.ca/en/resourc..._PROOF.pdf

While very reasonable that is still more than you pay going Sobey's or Zehrs though which probably what they are concerned about.

Market Square used to be free. No longer, at least when I tried last time.
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