What Cost Downtown?

Alex Abboud blogged about $100M the Province of Alberta could potentially find to help building a new arena in the downtown area of Edmonton. While I like some of the ideas in the post (Streetfront Initiatives,Preservation and Conversion, some capacity development) - some I find less than desirable.

One suggestion was residential development incentives of $10,000 to $25,000 per unit. Downtown is already filled with 'luxury' (read: overpriced) condos, particularly in the 'warehouse' district (I prefer to call it the 'parking' district). Giving developers $10k to $25k per unit is just that, giving it to them. Housing prices will still rise to meet demand (the market is ridiculously skewed right now however, due to the bubble which from which housing prices will not drop - no one is selling it at a loss) and the supply will simply sit unused as cheaper homes remain available in the 'burbs. Add to that city councils terrible transit plans which essentially subsidize more suburban development (Lewis Farms LRT and Transit Centre) by building free parking for cheap transit which only gets used to shuttle people to and from downtown when they have to go for work. My belief is that the money would simply end up in developers pockets either as a premium on their projects or a cost reduction allowing them to sell the same units which are already glutting the market (Icon, Quest, Pearl) and are completely out of reach financially for younger couples and families.

A second suggestion was more and better infrastructure (Smart Card Parking, Pedestrian Overpasses). Sadly, we need less parking, not more and what we do have does not need help - it's just enabling more cars to come in for a minute and leave again. Several studies have found that cyclists, pedestrians, and transit users spent more time and money in commercial districts than auto users. Each parking space we (the city) operates is a huge drain on the city. If you walk through the 'warehouse' (or any other part of downtown) on a Saturday afternoon you would be hard pressed to find any parking lot which was even close to capacity - add to that the extremely inexpensive city operated on street parking and we are offering yet another incentive for people to not stay downtown for any length of time. In California they found that as road capacity increased so did sprawl and it is likely that parking capacity will create the same effect.

Also, why should citizens pay (especially non-drivers like me) for a 'smartcard' system for cars when we can't even get something remotely smart for transit? I have to line up every month to get a bus pass because the city refuses (I have asked them, repeatedly) to provide any other option. I have never gotten a straight answer as to why this is, either.

As for adding pedestrian overpasses - they are simply another way to accommodate more traffic by marginalizing the activities we wish to foster. Pedestrian overpasses tell the world that people are less important than cars and should walk farther, and with more difficulty than cars should be allowed to move. I realize it is a cheaper option than underpasses for traffic, but it also sends a clear societal message that people come second.

Some more (a lot more) bicycle parking would be appreciated, as would some better transit shelters and better locations for transit stops. Waiting on 102 ave and 101 street after dark for a bus? I'm glad I am a relatively fit young male - because that stop would be terrifying for anyone else, I imagine. That is only one example, there are many more.

In the end I believe that streetfront commercial and better pedestrian facilities (why is 2/3 of downtown Edmonton eyesore surface parking?) would help a great deal, combined with some more realistic housing options (cheaper condos which aren't total dumps, maybe offer subsidies to recently graduated or current students or persons new to the city). A properly developed (and located) arena project COULD help with the first two, but alas, the city decides to maintain acres of parking on Jasper ave and push what could be some positive development to the edge of downtown, likely because they can co-locate another wonderful parking structure next to a single-purpose, closed 3/4 of the time arena. As it stands whatever money we get will likely be wasted by city council on pet projects such as unnecessary suburban transit and more infrastructure for cars and not people.