As a follow-up to the post below, here’s another item from New Zealand by way of Scot Bathgate. I’d welcome other examples of Motordom’s excesses as we move into a new era. In fact, it’s time for a new category, inspired by the title above for this post.
Evidence of the End of Motordom – the era of auto-dependent urban planning and development.
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A carparking building in Manukau that cost ratepayers $14 million to build is sitting virtually empty and slashing prices to attract vehicles.
The pro-public transport Auckland Transport Blog has called the carpark a disaster and an appalling waste of money, and published aerial photographs showing it set in a “sea of … car parking” at Manukau central.
Mr Quax said the carpark was a dog and he did not believe it would reach capacity for a long time, and councillor George Wood described it as a strange project with few vehicles using it.
But Mr Brown, who encountered strong resistance to the carpark when he was Mayor of Manukau City, remains bullish.
“This project is an investment in the future of Manukau City along with the neighbouring train station and MIT campus currently being built,” he said. “It is an example of our commitment to our growing metropolitan centres across Auckland.”
A planned $6 million expansion of the carpark has been cancelled.
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UPDATE: More background here.
With grow lights could be perfect for urban agriculture! This could be the future of many existing parking structures in cities. That, or storage, for which there doesn’t ever seem to be enough. Or floor hockey, archery, the list of alternate uses seems endless. (With tongue only partly in cheek)
Source for the Herald article here with more background to this appalling example of 20th century
http://transportblog.co.nz/2012/11/07/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-manukau/
You know, there is a simple urban planning explanation/rationale for this situation, and it may not be “the end of motordom”.
The Herald article says that the parkade is sitting in the middle of a sea of parking. The questions should be asked: who owns the parkade, who owns the land around it, and what are there plans?
I would surmise that there is a development plan for those lands, and the parkade is part of the plan. Many people prefer to park in open parking areas rather than parkades, because it is easier to get in and out, and it is often cheaper. Once the sea of parking begins to disappear to redevelopment, the parkade may fill up.
The redevelopment of the “sea of parking” around UBC, and replacement with many expensive and elaborate parkades in the 1990s is a good example of this trend.
If this empty parkade was truly a signal of the end of motordom, that would be a good thing, but I think that some are jumping to conclusiions, and that there is probably a political motivation driving this.
Are the City of Vancouver-owned Gastown parkades very busy?