The Whole Foods at Square One has permeable brick paving in the driveways around it. Can't see it clearly on Streetview (
https://goo.gl/maps/jdoB0) but it looks pretty much like these bricks:
It ends up looking pretty good, and without the huge grassy divots that may get weedy, mucky, etc...
I expect that whatever is placed underneath the bricks has a major impact on how well it drains through, and whether weeds end up growing in the cracks. I expect if it's installed well, and if the cracks don't fill up with debris too quickly, then weeds would be a minimal problem.
Here's a Toronto example of what you originally posted:
https://goo.gl/maps/vtHIA I don't think it looks as good, and not so great for walking or biking over.
Oh... another one I saw once: Crown St. in Vancouver. I can't find a decent photo, put the image on Page 3 in this PDF (
http://conf.tac-atc.ca/english/resourcecentre/readingroom/conference/conf2005/docs/s5/kauffman.pdf) shows how it works. It's a much higher grass-to-paving ratio...can look quite nice if grass grows well in there. Probably drawbacks of wetness/mud etc. on rainy days though (I'm guessing).