Castanet

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... on-problem

Another example of city council wanting to blame the public for their failings. The public is miss-informed my *bleep*! Rather than waste thousands of dollars for an "In-depth Study" why didn't they just ask the public?

Newflash mayor and council: There is parking downtown. It's true. We all know it. Parking downtown is still inconvenient. We are not Vancouver no matter how much you'd like us to be. In Kelowna we are spoiled when it comes to parking - we have options. Why would I want to pay for parking downtown, navigate a parkade, and walk a block or 2 to my destination when I could go elsewhere and park for free right in front of my destination? In other words - it's not what downtown doesn't have, it's what other locations do have - more convenient parking.

I think part of the problem is that a lot of people have watched them make it harder to park downtown over the last few years. Reducing the amount of spaces down bernard (albeit to increase sidewalk space), removing, reducing and privatizing various areas all have made it hard to want to park right down town. They see privatized parking areas as a solution but there are some private lots downtown that charge more than $6 an hour. I simply won't park downtown if they make it worse, I'll park further and walk in because its simply not worth it.

I'm looking out the window here, downtown and count 20+ parking stalls that are empty. People want FREE parking, and they want it in front of their destination, if it is downtown. People are daft. They'll park at the mall, and not qualm about walking the mall for hours and parking the equivalent of a block or more from the mall entrance.

kgcayenne wrote:I'm looking out the window here, downtown and count 20+ parking stalls that are empty. People want FREE parking, and they want it in front of their destination, if it is downtown. People are daft. They'll park at the mall, and not qualm about walking the mall for hours and parking the equivalent of a block or more from the mall entrance.

Ya its called Leon. I always park there

I flat out refuse to shop anywhere that requires me to pay for parking in front of their establishment unless it's some obscure item (the last time I went down town was for 18650 batteries lol) I can't find elsewhere. Even then I'll go out of my way to find a residential area to park and then walk however many blocks simply out of spite. Anything downtown is honestly a "last resort" in my books...

If the people who work downtown would leave the prime spots empty instead of taking them for themselves, there wouldn't be such a parking problem. I worked downtown for many years and the realtors used to all rush out and switch places with each other to avoid being ticketed.

Good gawd - could Mayor Sugarplum be any more out of touch not only with his constituents - but reality in general??

Mayor Colin Basran, for one, says he doesn't want to see the city involved in building any more parkades.

"When I look at all the competing priorities we have in the community, do I want to tax our residents for another parkade? Or, do I wan t to tax our residents for arenas, or parks, of things they really want," said Basran.

Obviously you haven’t heard the numerous requests Bas, in fact I believe it was number 1 with a bullet in the last city survey Colin - the residents want more parking. *bleep* I can’t wait until this imbecile’s done his tenure. Worst. Mayor. Ever.

lensbaby wrote:If the people who work downtown would leave the prime spots empty instead of taking them for themselves, there wouldn't be such a parking problem. I worked downtown for many years and the realtors used to all rush out and switch places with each other to avoid being ticketed.

So where do you suggest they park? It’s just reaffirming the obvious - the downtown has lacked proper parking for years. Funny how every other major city center has parkades smack dab in the middle of their downtown core - you know, just in case anyone wants to maybe go shopping, or visit one of the local eateries. Uber and car pooling will not solve all the parking issues.

I do my part in helping alleviate the downtown parking issues...I don't go there.

I personally don't have a problem with the downtown parking, since there is nothing I want from any of the shops in the downtown area. I have absolutely no need or reason to park downtown.

I will say CoK has a very sweet deal with the 2hr parking time in the evening around Prospera, since hockey game usually is 3hrs (which does not include any possible overtime games). $30 a pop if paid within "X" time drops to $25. Now that is a money grab.
Again not my problem since I walk to any games I watch.

I do think there is a parking perception problem. However the city is not doing their part to help by approving these massive towers without appropriate parking even for their residents. I'm looking at Ella specifically, right smack in the Bernard district.

The biggest problem I have with the article is how they are thinking of privatizing parking. This IMHO is them basically saying they dont want to own/deal with the problem. Also privatizing would result in high parking costs. Vancouver for example was $26/day last time I was there and that was like 5 uears ago.

Also the current city council doesn't seem to listen much to its residents. They seem to just be eager and hungry to be a mini Vancouver. I also question if they have developer friends.

Scrobins94 wrote:I do think there is a parking perception problem. However the city is not doing their part to help by approving these massive towers without appropriate parking even for their residents. I'm looking at Ella specifically, right smack in the Bernard district.

The biggest problem I have with the article is how they are thinking of privatizing parking. This IMHO is them basically saying they dont want to own/deal with the problem. Also privatizing would result in high parking costs. Vancouver for example was $26/day last time I was there and that was like 5 uears ago.

Also the current city council doesn't seem to listen much to its residents. They seem to just be eager and hungry to be a mini Vancouver. I also question if they have developer friends.

If the company getting that is same one who has all the parking at KGH, drivers will be totally
p off.

Jflem1983 wrote:

kgcayenne wrote:I'm looking out the window here, downtown and count 20+ parking stalls that are empty. People want FREE parking, and they want it in front of their destination, if it is downtown. People are daft. They'll park at the mall, and not qualm about walking the mall for hours and parking the equivalent of a block or more from the mall entrance.

Ya its called Leon. I always park there

Nope

Bsuds wrote:I do my part in helping alleviate the downtown parking issues...I don't go there.

Same. It's chock full of lawless marauding swill anyway.

lightspeed wrote:Same. It's chock full of lawless marauding swill anyway.

I'd take offense to that but then I'd have to put down my beer while riding my bike on the sidewalk chasing some teenager to steal their shoes ... #lovedowntown