Asphalt of Toronto - Our Lost Parking Lots (aka Toronto in the Golden Age of Parking)

[hawc]

Everyone bemoans the loss of our historic buidlings, but let's not forget our equally historic forever lost parking lots.



*Photos thanks to Mongo*

 

[whatever]

Any votes for most significant lots filled in the last 10 years? I'd personally vote for the one the FSCPA replaced, but Shangri-la's parking lot was also disgraceful. And the one the Met filled in was also a real street killer.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Awesome! I found this thread while I was listening to Pavement.

 

[Jonny5]

Any votes for most significant lots filled in the last 10 years? I'd personally vote for the one the FSCPA replaced, but Shangri-la's parking lot was also disgraceful. And the one the Met filled in was also a real street killer.

I always catch myself trying to remember what was torn down to make way for the Met, like there MUST have been some building there, and then slowly the memories come back... "Oh yeah, there was a parking lot there...WTF?!"

 

[Mongo]

Some more images from other UT threads.

Courtesy thecharioteer:

Courtesy colbyb:

 

[hawc]

These one's will soon be gone too.

 

[Mongo]

Another image courtesy thecharioteer:

 

[Mississauga Slim]

These pictures would make a great coffee-table book: Toronto in the Golden Age of Parking.

 

[hawc]

 

[neubilder]

Now I'd like to see photos of these parking lots a few years earlier, when they were still built-up Victorian cityscapes and neighbourhoods.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Toronto's "lost" parking lots: What did they replace?

Now I'd like to see photos of these parking lots a few years earlier, when they were still built-up Victorian cityscapes and neighbourhoods.

NB: I was thinking the same thing-What buildings or housing did these replace to make
way for these parking lots to accomodate automobiles in the central city?

Many cities in North America-even Toronto with its high transit use-had this happen...

Today land values have changed this landscape for the better and automobile parking
is now in multi-level parking garages as an example which balances the land use better...

This topic makes me think of Joni Mitchell song lyrics "Put up a parking lot" and better
yet "You don't know what you got until it's gone"...

LI MIKE

 

[hawc]

Moar pictures!

 

[Mongo]

Some more images of our great lost parking lots:

And as a special bonus, this photo from an even earlier time:

 

[DTowner]

I saw a documentary about Cleveland, Ohio called "Mistake by the lake". They mentioned that you can tell how well a city is doing by the number of above ground parking lots it has in its downtown core. The more it has, the poorer they are! Makes sense: if no one is willing to invest in the city and buy the land to build businesses or retail or residences, the other option would be to pave it, and turn it into a parking lot. Cheap to create and run and the return is high. I hate one-storey above ground parking lots. They're a waste of space, destroy street life and are ugly.

 

[vic]

In this case, I think the parking lot looks more attractive than what you can see on Streetview.