A new housing development proposed for Vancouver's downtown eastside will dispense with expensive parking spots (worth $30,000 to $40,000 per space), to reduce the cost of a new condo development, making it more accessible to lower income buyers.
In Victoria we have on a case by case basis allowed some developments to proceed with no or reduced parking requirements, to meet the idiosyncrasies of land use or to help reduce costs at housing developments.
Most parking formulas are geared towards the travel demand generated by land use in an average North American city. We aren't and Vancouver isn't average. We bike more and we walk more and in Vancouver, traffic volumes are dropping in downtown even as population goes up. Why do we need all that extra parking?
With 30 to 40% of urban land dedicated to the movement and storage of private automobiles, finding ways to reduce their impacts and give lower income residents a break on housing is an idea whose time is now.
Here's the Globe and Mail story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/developer-experiments-with-affordable-condos-near-downtown-vancouver/article1651548/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Yes that's a good point! People live in houses and not in cars! I think lower income buyers are glad to hear this news.
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