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Boulevard Parking (Kitchener)
#1
At the Dec 17th Kitchener Council meeting, Councillor Ioaniddis put forth a motion to allow boulevard parking (allowing cars to park on the paved part of a driveway between the sidewalk and street - if space allows) throughout Kitchener, during Dec 1st-Mar 31st each year. There was a pilot project in ward 5 a couple years ago and they now allow for it. After some discussion, the motion was removed and will be brought to Special Council on Jan 7th to allow councillors to obtain feedback from residents on this proposal. If you feel strongly about this, I'd encourage you to let your councillor know prior to Jan 7th.
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#2
What's typically the biggest objection?
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#3
(12-21-2018, 08:19 AM)dtkmelissa Wrote: At the Dec 17th Kitchener Council meeting, Councillor Ioaniddis put forth a motion to allow boulevard parking (allowing cars to park on the paved part of a driveway between the sidewalk and street - if space allows) throughout Kitchener, during Dec 1st-Mar 31st each year. There was a pilot project in ward 5 a couple years ago and they now allow for it. After some discussion, the motion was removed and will be brought to Special Council on Jan 7th to allow councillors to obtain feedback from residents on this proposal. If you feel strongly about this, I'd encourage you to let your councillor know prior to Jan 7th.

Do some homeowners have too many vehicles?  I know it would be unpopular to limit the number of vehicles per house but renters and condo owners are already limited to the number of parking spaces they are allowed.  Why not homeowners?  Allowing cars to park on boulevards looks trashy.
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#4
Is there a downside to boulevard parking other than aesthetics?
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#5
(12-21-2018, 08:19 AM)dtkmelissa Wrote: At the Dec 17th Kitchener Council meeting, Councillor Ioaniddis put forth a motion to allow boulevard parking (allowing cars to park on the paved part of a driveway between the sidewalk and street - if space allows) throughout Kitchener, during Dec 1st-Mar 31st each year. There was a pilot project in ward 5 a couple years ago and they now allow for it. After some discussion, the motion was removed and will be brought to Special Council on Jan 7th to allow councillors to obtain feedback from residents on this proposal. If you feel strongly about this, I'd encourage you to let your councillor know prior to Jan 7th.

Thanks for posting this!

I don't think this is the most critical issue in the city, but I believe this would make our cities worse.  Aside from giving up more public property to private property storage, and giving people another reason to object to adding bike infra (as it would often take away the boulevard), and giving people more leeway to block the sidewalk, I believe it also makes the city a more unpleasant place to be.  The most unpleasant neighbourhood I've ever been too was one in California, where every house was a cute Bungalow, with nice gardens and trees, where each house had 4-8 cars in front, the whole neighbourhood looked crowded and clogged with cars.
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#6
If you have 2 vehicles, and the allotted space allows one in the driveway and one in the garage, plus boulevard, it assumes you have a clear garage with enough space for the car.

If the garage is a dumping ground, the boulevard option becomes attractive.
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#7
It is trashy, but should be permitted for an annual fee. Otherwise the city is losing a good revenue opportunity.
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#8
(12-21-2018, 10:13 AM)robdrimmie Wrote: Is there a downside to boulevard parking other than aesthetics?

Safety.  Young children playing around cars parked on the boulevard are hard to see and if they quickly run onto the street they could get hit by a moving vehicle.

Some homeowners may see this as a permit to block the sidewalk.
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#9
I lived in the Ward 5 area that allowed it, you come to realize that there are a lot of drivers that cannot parallel park well in the boulevard spaces. The grass boulevards in some cases get pretty torn up by being driven over.
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#10
(12-21-2018, 10:50 AM)neonjoe Wrote: I lived in the Ward 5 area that allowed it, you come to realize that there are a lot of drivers that cannot parallel park well in the boulevard spaces. The grass boulevards in some cases get pretty torn up by being driven over.

I used to live in ward 5 but prior to this being allowed. Do you have any sense on uptake on this? I think if it was only used now and then by some people, it likely won't have much of an impact. However, if it's a go to solution for many, I feel like it makes things even more cluttered with vehicles. I worry it becomes a safety issue in addition to not looking very attractive.
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#11
I find it funny this is seriously an issue with people. Aesthetics seems like a poor reason to not allow it - at least in the winter months. Enforcement of parking over sidewalks needs to be improved anyway and should be enforced here as well. It seems like a funny thing to require a fee for when its an area that the homeowner is required to maintain anyway - but if there are costs here that I don't see (like enforcement of bylaws) then by all means it seems worth charging for.

These are the types of issues that I feel like people just object to because on principle they don't like cars. The legitimate problems (which seem minor) can be dealt with effectively. And this isn't a rant about "anti-car people", the same things happens in reverse all the time. Improvements for bikes or pedestrians get objected to for really dumb reasons.
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#12
Wink 
(12-21-2018, 10:06 AM)Spokes Wrote: What's typically the biggest objection?

I would think general appearance of it might be one objection. Personally I just think if we are serious about walkability, we want to create streets that are comfortable, easy to walk, and attractive (as well as safe and clear but that's for another thread [Image: wink.gif]) Adding more spaces for cars to park doesn't seem to do any of those things.
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#13
(12-21-2018, 10:44 AM)panamaniac Wrote: It is trashy, but should be permitted for an annual fee.  Otherwise the city is losing a good revenue opportunity.

Doesn't that make enforcement problematic?
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#14
(12-21-2018, 11:08 AM)timc Wrote:
(12-21-2018, 10:44 AM)panamaniac Wrote: It is trashy, but should be permitted for an annual fee.  Otherwise the city is losing a good revenue opportunity.

Doesn't that make enforcement problematic?

Moreso that other forms of enforcement?  Not sure why it would.  The cars would need to be tagged to show they have paid, of course.
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#15
I thought it would be because enforcement is mostly based on complaints, and people aren't going to know who is allowed to park and who isn't. But maybe that's not really a problem.
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