[mburrrrr]

Green P lot on Church and The Esplanade

They are lifting some backup power to a new location on the roof of the parking lot. I’m assuming this is peak shaving power for the new electrical vehicle chargers. They had an existing ground floor generator so I’m assuming this unit is larger.
I’m not sure if this is gas, oil or a battery pack. No top vents. I’ll investigate later.

View attachment 661544

View attachment 661543

Blue Star Power from Minnesota

Just a replacement generator but now on the roof. A open air room with a view at $1,000/m in lost revenue. When was the last time this lot was full to the top? At ~50% capacity due to construction of the west side the roof has never been used, for parking.

 

[innsertnamehere]

The already weak Parking Strategy was further watered down at Council.

Anyone car to guess you led the charge?

If you said 'fake progressive' Councillor Fletcher..............you'd be right:

View attachment 661950

I mean I think charging for parking in deep suburban areas at parks, etc. is silly and just going to cause more problems than it will fix. Charging for parking at a baseball field in northeast Scarborough is just going to lead to overflow parking issues on side streets.

Absolutely strive to charge wherever reasonable, but like most things, a universal mandate of paid parking is usually not a good idea.

 

[Northern Light]

The wording of this motion and its title obviously correlate to the recent RapidTO debate on Bathurst.

But notable here is a member motion from Cllr Saxe demanding higher parking rates on busy streets in her ward to reflect the value of this space to the public, promote churn/turnover and to speed transit.

This last point would be achieved through both fewer legal spaces, and more empty ones as higher rates either reduce demand for parking or see it shift off-street.

Agenda Item History 2025.MM32.6

Agenda Item History 2025.MM32.6

secure.toronto.ca

 

[txlseries4]

The wording of this motion and its title obviously correlate to the recent RapidTO debate on Bathurst.

But notable here is a member motion from Cllr Saxe demanding higher parking rates on busy streets in her ward to reflect the value of this space to the public, promote churn/turnover and to speed transit.

This last point would be achieved through both fewer legal spaces, and more empty ones as higher rates either reduce demand for parking or see it shift off-street.

Agenda Item History 2025.MM32.6

Agenda Item History 2025.MM32.6

secure.toronto.ca

View attachment 666881

I'm so relieved to not have Saxe as my councillor because even as someone very engaged in what's happening at city hall I find it impossible to find her sporadic updates. Not posted to her Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, but on LinkedIn??? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/speeding-up-transit-bathurst-street-dianne-saxe-ph-d-gcb-d-hjduf

Some commentary on her post from a familiar face

One excerpt from her post:
"We also heard that some have been pleading with Doug Ford to prevent the city from creating bus lanes. This is a risk that I take very seriously, given Bill 212’s attack on our bike lanes, Ford’s threat to our speed cameras, and other meddling by the Ford government in city governance. I strive to find compromises that have enough public support to endure, even when hostile governments are elected.

In these circumstances, I think it is risky and premature to leap directly to 24/7 bus lanes / parking elimination in both directions, without first trying other ways to free up the afternoon northbound bus. In particular, we haven’t yet tried the targeted parking and turn changes that successfully sped up the Dundas streetcar, and that’s what I will be doing this fall."

 

[evandyk]

"cannot survive without some street parking and loading, most of which would disappear"

But if "most" disappear, doesn't that mean there is still "some"?

 

[txlseries4]

Even when you're on a five-year US$110,000,000 contract playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, you still think parking should be free

 

[Bojaxs]

Even when you're on a five-year US$110,000,000 contract playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, you still think parking should be free

View attachment 672950

Is free parking a thing in American cities??? I haven't been down to the states in 20+ years, but I've recently travelled to just about every major city in Canada (except Winnipeg), and I've never seen free parking. I always figured every city in North America charges for parking in downtown. How else can you generate revenue in order to maintain the parking lot?

Some one should tell Gausman to just park at a GO station.

 

[txlseries4]

Is free parking a thing in American cities??? I haven't been down to the states in 20+ years, but I've recently travelled to just about every major city in Canada (except Winnipeg), and I've never seen free parking. I always figured every city in North America charges for parking in downtown. How else can you generate revenue in order to maintain the parking lot?

Absolutely -- free or very under-priced, with ridiculously cheap prices to park for entire days. I'd even say it's even common in a majority of Canadian towns and small cities. Even in just outside of Toronto free street parking is widely available in "downtown" areas after 6pm and sometimes all weekend. Similar models are common all over the states, even in major US cities.

Good episode from a couple years ago about the topic on the podcast The War on Cars (name inspired by Rob Ford), discussing the effects of free parking with the late Donald Shoup, urban planning professor and author of The High Cost of Free Parking. Good discussion and offers an interesting perspective:

98. The High Cost of Free Parking with Donald Shoup – The War on Cars

thewaroncars.org

 

[Bojaxs]

Absolutely -- free or very under-priced, with ridiculously cheap prices to park for entire days. I'd even say it's even common in a majority of Canadian towns and small cities. Even in just outside of Toronto free street parking is widely available in "downtown" areas after 6pm and sometimes all weekend. Similar models are common all over the states, even in major US cities.

Good episode from a couple years ago about the topic on the podcast The War on Cars (name inspired by Rob Ford), discussing the effects of free parking with the late Donald Shoup, urban planning professor and author of The High Cost of Free Parking. Good discussion and offers an interesting perspective:

98. The High Cost of Free Parking with Donald Shoup – The War on Cars

thewaroncars.org

When I was in Calgary last year, I was surprised at how much it cost to park downtown. It's no wonder the park & rides at the C-train stations are so heavily used.

I get that a lot of towns and smaller cities have free parking. But I was wondering which cities Gausman would be comparing Toronto to? Like I can't think of a roughly, similar sized city to Toronto that offers free parking.

 

[txlseries4]

When I was in Calgary last year, I was surprised at how much it cost to park downtown. It's no wonder the park & rides at the C-train stations are so heavily used.

I get that a lot of towns and smaller cities have free parking. But I was wondering which cities Gausman would be comparing Toronto to? Like I can't think of a roughly, similar sized city to Toronto that offers free parking.

He might not even have a specific place in mind and could just be the pervasive idea that parking shot not only be ample, but free if not deeply affordable. I think it’s easy for most to think about ways things are done in other places, particularly small towns or suburbs, and believe those things should be the same in a city like Toronto too.

 

[nfitz]

Absolutely -- free or very under-priced, with ridiculously cheap prices to park for entire days.

It's free on most streets in Toronto too. There's lots of ways of looking at it.

But really, what you have to do is look at core areas of similar or larger cities. Which leaves you with only New York City, LA, and Chicago. That parking is free in St. Louis with their acres of parking lots isn't really relevant.

I haven't parked in downtown Chicago - the El has always been easier. But I can tell you, parking for 24-hours in Manhattan is more expensive than in Toronto! I don't remember parking in Los Angeles being particularly expensive, but I don't recall it being free in central areas ... though their downtown isn't concentrated in the same way that Toronto and New York City (and Chicago) are.

 

[evandyk]

I’m sure he has free parking wherever he lives in Toronto (unless he lives in a hotel) so he must be complaining that parking isn’t free at a stadium that holds 50,000 people???

 

[Mihairokov]

I’m sure he has free parking wherever he lives in Toronto (unless he lives in a hotel) so he must be complaining that parking isn’t free at a stadium that holds 50,000 people???

It's OT, but a question I have is: do the Jays players live around the stadium like some of the Leafs/Raptors players do, or are they scattered around the GTA?

Either way, Gausman has been with the Jays for four years now, so this parking thing isn't new. He's previously played for San Francisco, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Baltimore, so take a wild swing at which one(s) of those offer free parking in their cities.

I wonder if he moved into a new building and they charge him for monthly parking.

 

[nfitz]

Either way, Gausman has been with the Jays for four years now, so this parking thing isn't new. He's previously played for San Francisco, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Baltimore, so take a wild swing at which one(s) of those offer free parking in their cities.

I'll go with Baltimore. Looks like there's free street parking not too far from the stadium. Right by the stadium actually - but there's a 2-hour limit there, plus gameday restrictions.

Cincinnati too if you are willing to walk 25 minutes. Even in Toronto if you are prepared to walk 20 minutes. Check out Wellington and Walnut! Though I guess you still have to meet the 3-hour parking limit

Gausman is from suburban Denver. I've certainly seen lots of people there parking free on residential side-streets while I've been walking to an evening game.