new 435 stall parking garage downtown?

http://www.winnipeg.ca/finance/findata/matmgt/documents//2010/566-2010//566-2010_Request_For_Proposal.pdf


I thought we were trying to reduce the number of downtown parking stalls to encourage the use of transit? Or is it only privately owned surface parking we hate and we are totally ok with government owned parking structures?

"The City of Winnipeg is considering involvement in development of a 435 stall, above ground,
precast construction, parking structure and 18,000 sq ft. retail space on provincially owned land
on James Avenue in Downtown Winnipeg (Exchange District, north side of James Ave. between
Lily St. and Amy St). The building footprint is directly adjacent to the current Warehouse Theatre
site."

I thought we were trying to reduce the number of downtown parking stalls to encourage the use of transit?

News to me.

no no .. I mean thats what "everyone" says we should do.

Just those that are sucking at the public teat with study after study....but yet ridership remains stagnant....???? people ????

nah the people who are complaining about green being the colour of choice for all new houses.

or something like that.

Heh....the ones that live in Whyteridge and Island Lakes eh?

Some of the "greens" need to wake up and realise that the only way to encourage more people to go downtown is in fact to provide more parking alternatives not less. There is a large number of folks who have ZERO desire to go downtown if the only "easy" way to go there is by transit. No matter what the transit alternatives are, many people just plain refuse to use it EVER, and are even less likely to do so when it's -30 in January.

The smart thing to do is to add parking capacity as buildings are built/renovated using either underground or multi-level parkades that are part of the building structure, in addition to improving the transit alternatives. The easier you make it for people to come downtown the more likely they will be to do so. Making it impossible to find a parking spot only limits the amount of people willing to make the trip.

Just my 2 cents.

The reality is, unless there is a reason to come downtown, there wont be any amount of parking in the world or crazy good transit service that will bring people there.


So... what are our reasons to go downtown?

I go there to get rid of my spare change.

When the house gets really messy and my kids are hounding me for money, I head downtown and after only a few minutes, I realize how much worse things could be and I go home happy and content.

Parking, or a lack of it, is not the issue why people don't go downtown.