Until transit improves to the point where passengers are being dropped off at their exact destination and very near their own doorstep, there will likely never again be a time in the 91原创s when parking is not a problem.
As a recent visitor to the City noted in a letter to the editor on the opposite page, he received (and promptly paid) a ticket for parking in a fire lane while helping his daughter move into a condo in January.
He didn鈥檛 have much in the way of options, he notes, adding the 鈥榥o parking鈥� sign could have been more conveniently displayed.
A short drive around the neighbourhood showed him what most of us have known for a long time 鈥� densification is a double-edged sword.
On one hand, a focus on multi-family dwellings in both the City and the Township has presumably reduced our overall housing footprint and provided more affordable options for people who are entering the market. It has also created a larger tax base within a limited geographic space.
An unfortunate side effect of all this has been a scarcity of legal places to park.
It鈥檚 far from uncommon in 91原创 for a family to have more than one vehicle, with one parent commuting and the other driving kids here and there, or both working and commuting in different directions. Kids become driving teenagers, get their own vehicles and cars begin to spill out onto streets, leaving few vacant spots for visitors.
Central parking lots aren鈥檛 the answer. The City learned that when it provided free parking in a paved lot near the downtown core. It sat virtually empty.
Perhaps, as the letter writer suggests, it鈥檚 time to put the onus on developers to provide more parking spaces per unit built.
For now, it remains a classic catch 22.
Increased density, we鈥檙e told, will eventually bring better transit. But in order to draw more cost-effective public transportation to the valley, we need, first, the population to support it and, second, consensus on how it is to be funded.
Until that day arrives, we鈥檒l be stuck circling the block, looking for a place to park.
And muncipalities will continue to happily ticket anyone who breaks the rules.
