Transform parking into a living environment

In his test Car-free neighborhoods, the mayor of Laval questions the place of the car in our cities and in our lives. Reading this book is worth the detour. Stéphane Boyer dreams of greener neighborhoods where children could play in front of their house without the risk of being hit, denser neighborhoods where most daily activities would be done on foot. In short, less polluted and less noisy neighborhoods that would promote the quality of life of their residents.

The step is high. We live in North America, in cities that have been designed around the car. So there is a lot to be done to turn the tide.

The first step to get there is to question the omnipresence of concrete and parking spaces in our cities. She is disproportionate. This is the number one problem in our cities, insists Christian Savard, of the organization Vivre en ville.

It is true that the space reserved for parking could be used to build housing, plant trees, widen sidewalks, add safe bike paths.

Not to mention that these parking spaces have several negative effects on the environment.

First, there are heat islands that increase the surrounding temperature. Because they’re waterproofed, they don’t absorb water, which is a serious problem when the sky turns wild like it did last Tuesday.

The good news is that it can be tackled.

We did it in the borough of Ville-Marie, in Montreal, where we abolished the minimum ratio of residential and commercial parking in 2018. This is an approach that should be extended to the entire province. The number of large paid parking lots has also been reduced. Remember, a few years ago, all those parking lots on René-Lévesque Boulevard, Jeanne-Mance Street or Peel Street, behind the Simons store. The borough has decided to tax these parking lots. Result: as they brought in less money, they were sold and are now occupied by residential buildings, commercial spaces or offices.

There are still far too many open-air parking lots, not only in Montreal, but also elsewhere in Quebec.

Examples can be found on Sherbrooke Street as one moves east. We also come across them on Parc Avenue, around Beaubien Street, an increasingly inhabited area. And, of course, around the shopping centers on the outskirts.

It’s no coincidence that in Brossard, we are thinking of increasing the density of the parking lot around Mail Champlain, a shopping center well served by several bus lines and soon by the REM, which will stop nearby at the Panama station. In the same way, one could think of considerably reducing the parking lot of the Chagnon galleries, in Lévis, a sea of ​​concrete which could be cut by at least half. This is a place where densification would prevent urban sprawl.

Not only are these parking spaces harmful to the environment, but they represent a hidden automobile subsidy that is paid for by everyone, even those who do not own a car.

Apart from a few neighborhoods where a sticker is required for a small fee, on-street parking is free in residential neighborhoods in Quebec. However, a parking space costs several thousand dollars to build and maintain.

No, we are not suggesting eliminating ALL parking spaces. But we must reduce the number of spaces on the surface and, when possible, replace them with underground or multi-storey parking, which costs less and pollutes less. We could also pool parking spaces that are not used 24 hours a day.

The solutions exist. Only the will is missing.