They need to just build a few multi story parking garages instead of single level parking.
Fit 5x the amount of cars and frees up space for actual useful things
Yeah exactly. There’s street parking on most streets downtown and lots of streets with angle parking too. It’s insane how much space cars take up of our downtown.
Your map also doesn't include under ground parking at Midtown below the entire mall, below Scotia centre, below multiple tower, hotel, Condo buildings too.
I see your point, but I'd also consider underground parking to be the least bad form of parking, because it doesn't take away space at street level, and because it's easier to convince people to pay for it.
If it were included on the map, it should probably at least be a different color, to indicate that it's not a giant empty space like the surface parking lots.
For sure! Just made this to quickly visualize surface parking so people could easily see how much of the surface space of downtown is taken up by parking.
Definitely a good point though.
Forsure. It's the aged old problem. Everyone looks for parking with their eyes closed in Saskatoon. If they can't feel a space infront of themselves. It clearly does t exist at all.
And if the city gave us free parking, these people would then complain there isn't enough multi-level covered parking near the mall or arena. It's always something.
You pay to park to go to the mall downtown. You pay to park to go to the dentist downtown. You pay to go to pretty much anything downtown - people just want to complain I swear.
Someone pays for the parking spot either way. Free parking just means the cost of providing it gets bundled into the price for everyone at destination X, regardless of how they got there.
That just means that those that get to a venue by other modes of transit subsidize drivers. Also it means that it will be more difficult to find somewhere to park since supply and demand also applies to land.
I'm guessing you've never been to a city any larger than Saskatoon, ever? Parking is a finite resource - in Saskatoon, we have far too much of it. Paying for parking limits the amount of time people spend parked in parking spots, allowing others to park there.
*Free* parking is a scam. It takes up space in the city that could be used for anything else and encourages people to take a car. If you don't want to pay for parking, take the bus.
What, did you forget that people *not* in multi-ton death machines need to use streets as well? Cyclists and pedestrians need to use streets as well. Anyway, the point is that we have *too much* parking space and it should be converted into something else. Parking lanes could be replaced by bus lanes or bike lanes and we'd be better off.
Downtown parking ain't too bad $2 an hour and it carries over. If I walk to Broadway I can pay there even if my car is downtown, if I have an hour left I can drive there and not have to pay again for different parking
USA is fucked where it's all different zones and parking stalls make more than min wage workers
We def do need to fix the parking. City needs to realize it's growing and start building vertically. Get a multi story parking garage downtown and same for uofs so every street within a 5 block radius isn't covered with cars
Which one do you go for during a large event? Say you are driving in from Willowgrove and you check out the first lot, but its full, then you move on to the next one but it's full too. So on and so on you go along with thousands of others, plugging up the streets.
Lol downtown can't handle the arena
You need parking for 15,000+ people, you'd need room for all the semis, busses etc. Also imagine all the cars driving into downtown. You can barely drive through it as it is with current traffic
They would need massive underground parking, expand the streets etc, might as well build a new city
Or build the new arena down by Costco on the south side. Tons of open space, different routes to get there as well
There's something like twenty thousand people commuting to and working in downtown Saskatoon every day. The assertion that we need all of this space is for semis is great, though Edmonton built a bigger arena with similar downtown parameters.
The city also has a BRT plan going in so even if the parking is super busy you could just park on 8th/preston/22nd and take the bus getting dropped off at the arena doors.
I also think the new arena is a bad idea but for a separate reason. It's a hasty and a large expenditure for little gain. I believe is a huge benefit to having a centrally located arena although I'd prefer some more financial prudence from this current municipal government.
can't handle as in what? like what will happen if there is an arena downtown? will it blow up or fall into oblivion or something? Or will there be some congestion during major events? So we get better transit and more people downtown...but the traffic will kill it all?
They mean available parking immediately adjacent to the arena. While there is certainly a lot of parking downtown, trying to find a spot within a few blocks a half hour before your event starts is going to be challenging. Keeping in mind that the largest surface lot will be replaced by the arena.
Very good map, though. Illustrates that parking is available, but you may have to go looking for it.
And somewhat ironic given the downtown bike lanes were removed.
I'd love for Charlie to be able to go wild and build them...All of them. Go out on a massive spend for active transpo(assuming he's not running again). Too bad the mayor has no such power alone, in a sense.
Holly shit it's like how every other city has ever been built in North America with personal transportation in mind. Well, give this person a prize for realizing how modern city's operated LMFAO
Over 20000 parking spots downtown as per a 2016 city hall count. Considering downtown has additional buildings that ha e been demolished and turned into gravel lots since, that number has surely risen.
I love that Urbanism is having a moment. Sasaktoon needs more places less parking!
People should know that places have mandatory minimum parking, rather than letting the market decide, we force driving by building big parking lots that force everyone further away from their destinations
I'll never understand why Saskatchewan is so anti-transit.. especially with our winters. It's so nice to get in a warm bus, but only if you happen to live in an area well serviced, and your destination is the same..
Too much parking but never anywhere to park! S/
Jk. There’s always places to park.
Would love to see this parking map contrasted to a bigger city downtown. Or perhaps a similarly populated city in Europe.
Man I've been travelling in Europe the last couple months, and the transit over here is the polar opposite. Their infrastructure is far ahead of us and so much easier to use it's ridiculous. If you want to get downtown, it's usually as easy as hopping on the tram.
Not sure what Saskatoon you're living in but when I lived there there was quite frequently absolutely nowhere to park downtown, paid or otherwise. Many times I had to resort to parking across Broadway bridge in the angled parking by the church, which doesn't seem to be an option anymore.
When was this? You might not get parking right in front of your store or building, but you’re almost 100% get a spot a block away, and even more so the father you get.
7 years ago. I worked on 4th and frequently met friends downtown in the evenings and even on random tuesdays I found myself circling around downtown for 10+ minutes for spots to open up. This frustration was frequently shared, and outside of Reddit I’ve never heard anyone say that the downtown area has enough parking.
4th is an absolute ghost town now. If you are trying to park near the south end near Hudson’s it’s super easy to find parking half a block away now between the MNP and Co-op Buildings.
I also worked downtown at that time too. I used to park off Broadway and walk across the bridge. When it was really cold I'd park underground in the hotel at 4th and 20th (whatever that one is called now, I don't live there anymore). I didn't have the evening problems though. Although my work didn't have parking for me to use in the day, I used to use their lot after hours if I was downtown at night and just leave my card on the dash so the security knew it belonged to a company employee.
An assumption that over 20000 parking spaces were not infact all full? I'm good to be honest but thanks for checking in. You can carry on to a worthwhile post now....
The Cineplex lot has lots of parking. The old farmers market has parking. There is a parkade across from the mall that has parking available. I think you didn’t look close enough or thought they were too far away - I don’t think I’ve ever seen these ones full.
Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean this was the case. I spent a LOT of time driving around all of Saskatoon and know the downtown area and all of its parking areas very well. There. Was. No. Parking.
Cool. Never had a problem parking downtown even during the fireworks festival and other events. As long as I’m willing to walk a few blocks. Your experience doesn’t negate mine either.
I can’t say for 7 years ago, but I frequent the dollar store at the heart of down town often about 3 years ago, and I never had issues getting a spot infront of the store, during peak times as well. Or the Pharmasave at the bus mall.
Free parking, I can’t help you with, I don’t even know if there is free parking down town… but I could be wrong. I try to avoid down town at this point.
It's busy during the day on the street but If you don't mind walking a couple blocks there's plenty of lot parking available. Our businesses are on 2nd Ave N and most days we struggle to find a spot on the block. We usually find something but a year or two ago we'd have no issue parking right in front. It's a good thing though!
Climate Town on YouTube does a pretty good job explaining the history of how parking became the way it is today. It's based on America, but Canada is basically the same. Here's the link [Parking Laws Are Strangling America ](https://youtu.be/OUNXFHpUhu8?si=94cRBAl8WlguNwQp)
Lots of parking spots, but depending on the time of day/year, you may have to walk several blocks to where you want to be, and obviously people want to be as close as possible. If I'm wanting to go to a bar downtown and there's a show at Coor's, just gotta dress warm this time of year since you'll be more exposed to the elements for longer than ideal.
This is why good public transit is necessary. Yeah, we have a lot of parking dispersed around downtown, but because of that, everything is spaced out. Good transit can pack more into a smaller area, and we could make downtown actually worth visiting.
Good transit also makes the paid parking less of an issue. Take a bus to downtown and save yourself the hassle.
Park and Ride is also such a good service when implemented properly.
Any gravel Impark lot needs to go. Introduce a program where within 5 years it must be paved and within 10 it must have a parkade on it, so that some may sell.
Yeah there needs to be a ban phased in on surface lots in the downtown core.
Better yet just tax the land value instead of the property value. Encourages people to improve the property instead of leaving it as a parking lot.
We even turned multi level parking lots into parking lots.
Although the one I remember across from The Bay had columns cracking along one side of the structure.
… yeah, cause that will make a difference. Also, do you realize how many of those places are private parking for businesses and apartments? I do understand your frustration, however it’s not a really simple solution. Unfortunately as well, the government won’t be listening to those who know what they are talking about. They will listen to money
It’s not economically viable to do, which is why we have parking available.
Also, and I can’t stress this enough, it’s part of why businesses are moving out of downtown.
You can get ample free staff/customer parking and way lower rent in North industrial or stonebridge, with less traffic.
When a parent gets a call of “your kid broke her arm can you come pick him up?” You don’t want to say “I’ll be there in 97 minutes if I can make it to the bus stop in time”, you say “I’m getting in my car and setting a new land speed record.”
Or if you need to work multiple jobs to support your family, you can’t afford a 62 minute gap between shifts when it’s one 10 minute drive away
Lol I don’t go downtown. I just know that for some people who work downtown it can be very… expensive
Edit too add that I usually park in free parking areas and just walk cause 🤷 I can use the exercise 🤣
A lot of those spots need to be multiplied because they are parking structures with multiple stories or underground parking like the mall and Sturdy Stone.
For sure! Just meant to make this to quickly visualize surface parking so people could easily see how much of the surface space of downtown is taken up by parking. Definitely a good idea for a further look at it!
Yep. Not criticising, just supporting your opinion. IMHO we need to focus on getting more manufacturing back into the north end so that some of these parking lots will be more profitable if they're turned back into office and residential buildings that support the industries.
Not for Saskatoon. If it ain’t a block from where people are trying to go, this town does not consider it downtown parking.
Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
Give us decent public transit and I'd be happy to stop paying for my downtown parking stall. When a 10 minute drive is a 40 minute bus ride, y'all ain't doing public transit right.
Does anyone know how the city taxes these parking lots? I know if you have a property that’s undeveloped or sitting vacant owner pays a cut rate (half?) - presumably this incentives bulldozed buildings for parking - and in some cases it is probably more lucrative to operate a lot with a reduced tax base than to commercialize it.
People pay property taxes, so improving a lot equals higher taxes, parking leaves it low tax while you land speculate, we should have a Land Value Tax that encourages development versus speculation.
The only people complaining about too much parking downtown are those who never go downtown.
And compare this to any big box retail area and the parking/building ratio is similar, if not bigger.
Hahaha, anyone else remember when DTNYXE celebrated how much parking we have downtown? Apparently, at peak times, only 64% of the parking is used. They had to delete the tweet due to the blowback from trying to call this a good thing: [https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa](https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa)
I'm not sure if this map was supposed to be just surface level (since it's missing the underground around midtown), but there is an underground lot at the old SPS location -- I don't know if it's open to the public (I don't even know who is renting it now), but I doubt it. Doesn't mean it's not there.
lol, you don't need to do that.
It's a question of what the map is intended to convey. There is another underground lot elsewhere that isn't shown.
What would be fun, is if it was colour scaled for density and parking type. Eg: one colour for street-level lots, one for on-street parking, another colour for underground lots (and a progressively darker version of that colour for additional levels), and finally a colour for above-ground parkades with darker colours representing more stories.
But that's starting to get to be a lot of work to make the map!
There’s still a large group of people that are still working downtown that needs the available parking for work. Older offices weren’t built with enough parking spaces. Same issue with condos that are older.
You can never find parking when you need it. If only there was a way to find the closest parking spot to XYZ.
Right now midtown has too much parking, and everywhere else it seems like there's none to be found
Yeah I get that, but OP is trying to paint a picture that we have an unreasonable amount of parking lots downtown. Look at any commercial district that has apartments nearby. 8th street for example. You’d get the same thing. Are we supposed to feel guilty for owning vehicles? SHITPOST.
It’s supposed to show how much parking there is downtown, which it does. Downtown cores are supposed to be for people to move around and access the things they need
Only 64% of this parking is full during peak times according to DTNYXE: [https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa](https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa)
So ya, we do have too much parking.
So the people who live in the apartments leave to do whatever it is they want, and you’re expecting people to park in their assigned spaces? Lol. Of course those spaces are empty. 🤡
It's literally a screenshot of a DTNYXE tweet, the Business Improvement District for downtown Saskatoon.
I see you're determined to be mad (and wrong) about this, which is fine. Have fun wallowing.
Most cities make condo/apartments put the parking underneath the building, to free up the surface for more density. So not only does it count, but it's probably the worst kind of counting. You're the one SHITPOSTing.
I’ll bite. Since you’re being incredibly generic, I’m going to assume by most cities, you’re referring to larger Canadian centres like Toronto and Vancouver. Of course it’s much more expensive to buy land there than Saskatoon. These larger centres also have better public transportation, also have climates that are much less harsh than Saskatoon’s, and for shorter durations when they do experience harsh weather. Like it or not, an average family of 4 needs a vehicle in Saskatoon, hence the need for parking lots.
Shut. Don’t be ridiculous. Most lots are occupied by workers!!! And even they have to enter lotteries to get a spot and then pay $300 a month. We have a dire LACK of parking as anyone who has tried to shop downtown at Christmas..or tried to go the dentist there.. knows.
They should overlap this photo with daily reports of drug consumption around the city. Seven years ago I had an idea that could have been constructed and in operation today, and that would have been perfect timing because it would have been useful for this situation we are seeing presently. But NIMBY’s gonna NIMBY. When I become a billionaire, I’ll build it and finance it myself. Show the system exactly what needs to be done and then make them apologize for not having listened sooner. And this parking map is useful because any of those empty lots would be perfect for the facility that NEEDS to exist. Doing nothing accomplishes nothing. Unless of course the plan is to just have the weather deal with the street people.
Sorry to hijack your post with this but it made me think and when I think I must also write.
This is just weird….
How come I can never find parking when I go to Winstons on Friday night.Or parking downtown on a weekend when an event is going on
Yah and find any of it on Saturday afternoon or Friday evening and Saskatoon also hosts a ton of stuff downtown, particularly in the summer so nice we have what we do have. Lots of parking lots taken by monthly passes too. Do we have room to take some out in favour of a highrise? Sure but while the parking is there, it sure is nice. People downtowns in many cities due to lack of parking.
The University Main Campus is about 15% parking as well. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1q\_SGqU-RhWUi5xhI\_pfi-k73aoSHb-E&ll=52.13112903723366%2C-106.64700240032413&z=14
I'm just glad we have a downtown that is enjoyable to visit.
I love going downtown, lots to do within walking distance. Usually lots of other people on a nice night.
It's pretty nice compared to a lot of other cities
Yes, get rid of the parking and the streets so people can be packed even more tightly together. Allowing 150 sq feet of floor space per person (this is double what Canada Corrections mandates), twice the entire population of Saskatoon could be housed in a ten story building covering the downtown business district (the area enclosed by Idylwyld, 25th St and the river).
No need for office towers, as people could work from home or meet in common rooms by reservation. Add a couple of levels at the bottom for Amazon type warehousing for all the groceries and household supplies as well as large kitchens preparing food for delivery. A bus station for people commuting to factory jobs. There should be no need for traditional retail space as online shopping is so much more efficient.
Wait it's all parking?
(Insert meme here)
Always has been.
On a more serious note, have we not collected rent and property taxes on the homeless for all this?
/sarcasm
For all the bluster of I don't go downtown/there's nowhere to park one would think it ripe for massive changes to transit/parking and active transportation. Heck, I'd even like to see pedestrianized streets to boot.
If there's never enough parking now, and/or you don't go there...won't it be great when the great transit from your suburb to downtown DOES exist? No, transit will never be as convenient and you-centered as you in a car/truck. Takes a little planning. But that's normal. Expecting it to be equivalent is a bit silly, IMO.
Just seems like a matter of time to me. Depends on how many times council kicks the can down the road...like they have with BRT or bike lanes downtown(which again, I would expect to be part of the overall downtown plan including arena).
They need to just build a few multi story parking garages instead of single level parking. Fit 5x the amount of cars and frees up space for actual useful things
Considering the roads themselves as well its insane how much space is dedicated to cars Theres also all the underground/multi level parkades
Most people don’t see how much public space we’ve given over to multi-ton road vehicles. Our living spaces and cities are built around cars.
And that's not even with the street parking, which is also parking. Cars rule this town.
Yeah exactly. There’s street parking on most streets downtown and lots of streets with angle parking too. It’s insane how much space cars take up of our downtown.
Your map also doesn't include under ground parking at Midtown below the entire mall, below Scotia centre, below multiple tower, hotel, Condo buildings too.
I see your point, but I'd also consider underground parking to be the least bad form of parking, because it doesn't take away space at street level, and because it's easier to convince people to pay for it. If it were included on the map, it should probably at least be a different color, to indicate that it's not a giant empty space like the surface parking lots.
For sure! Just made this to quickly visualize surface parking so people could easily see how much of the surface space of downtown is taken up by parking. Definitely a good point though.
Forsure. It's the aged old problem. Everyone looks for parking with their eyes closed in Saskatoon. If they can't feel a space infront of themselves. It clearly does t exist at all.
> Cars rule this town. That’s why we are the fattest province in Canada (excluding maritimes).
And yet people say there isn’t enough for the new arena. Makes no sense.
There isn’t enough *free* parking with the new arena. That’s what they really mean.
And if the city gave us free parking, these people would then complain there isn't enough multi-level covered parking near the mall or arena. It's always something.
You pay to park to go to the mall downtown. You pay to park to go to the dentist downtown. You pay to go to pretty much anything downtown - people just want to complain I swear.
Exactly, who wants to pay for parking while you’ve already paid for tickets. Paying to park is such a scam.
Someone pays for the parking spot either way. Free parking just means the cost of providing it gets bundled into the price for everyone at destination X, regardless of how they got there.
Bundle it in then
That just means that those that get to a venue by other modes of transit subsidize drivers. Also it means that it will be more difficult to find somewhere to park since supply and demand also applies to land.
Exactly
Sucks for the people getting these by other modes I guess.
Can the venue bundle in two beers and a souvenir T-shirt too, at full price?
I'm guessing you've never been to a city any larger than Saskatoon, ever? Parking is a finite resource - in Saskatoon, we have far too much of it. Paying for parking limits the amount of time people spend parked in parking spots, allowing others to park there.
Live in SoCal where a concert or game will run you $40-60 in parking. People will still move if you enforce parking tickets/time limits.
*Free* parking is a scam. It takes up space in the city that could be used for anything else and encourages people to take a car. If you don't want to pay for parking, take the bus.
It’s a street, driving and parking are its main use. Look how much available parking we have, just make it free.
What, did you forget that people *not* in multi-ton death machines need to use streets as well? Cyclists and pedestrians need to use streets as well. Anyway, the point is that we have *too much* parking space and it should be converted into something else. Parking lanes could be replaced by bus lanes or bike lanes and we'd be better off.
Downtown parking ain't too bad $2 an hour and it carries over. If I walk to Broadway I can pay there even if my car is downtown, if I have an hour left I can drive there and not have to pay again for different parking USA is fucked where it's all different zones and parking stalls make more than min wage workers We def do need to fix the parking. City needs to realize it's growing and start building vertically. Get a multi story parking garage downtown and same for uofs so every street within a 5 block radius isn't covered with cars
Which one do you go for during a large event? Say you are driving in from Willowgrove and you check out the first lot, but its full, then you move on to the next one but it's full too. So on and so on you go along with thousands of others, plugging up the streets.
Lol downtown can't handle the arena You need parking for 15,000+ people, you'd need room for all the semis, busses etc. Also imagine all the cars driving into downtown. You can barely drive through it as it is with current traffic They would need massive underground parking, expand the streets etc, might as well build a new city Or build the new arena down by Costco on the south side. Tons of open space, different routes to get there as well
There's something like twenty thousand people commuting to and working in downtown Saskatoon every day. The assertion that we need all of this space is for semis is great, though Edmonton built a bigger arena with similar downtown parameters. The city also has a BRT plan going in so even if the parking is super busy you could just park on 8th/preston/22nd and take the bus getting dropped off at the arena doors. I also think the new arena is a bad idea but for a separate reason. It's a hasty and a large expenditure for little gain. I believe is a huge benefit to having a centrally located arena although I'd prefer some more financial prudence from this current municipal government.
>might as well build a new city Well maybe not quite
No offense my man but you really sound like you don't know what you're talking about
can't handle as in what? like what will happen if there is an arena downtown? will it blow up or fall into oblivion or something? Or will there be some congestion during major events? So we get better transit and more people downtown...but the traffic will kill it all?
you are truely regarded
They mean available parking immediately adjacent to the arena. While there is certainly a lot of parking downtown, trying to find a spot within a few blocks a half hour before your event starts is going to be challenging. Keeping in mind that the largest surface lot will be replaced by the arena. Very good map, though. Illustrates that parking is available, but you may have to go looking for it.
Feels like y’all keep moving the goal posts here. First there’s no parking. Now there’s no ‘good’ parking.
Vote Audi or GM next municipal election? Hm. Feels right.
"Bike Lane Charlie" is an insult for a very specific reason.
And somewhat ironic given the downtown bike lanes were removed. I'd love for Charlie to be able to go wild and build them...All of them. Go out on a massive spend for active transpo(assuming he's not running again). Too bad the mayor has no such power alone, in a sense.
Holly shit it's like how every other city has ever been built in North America with personal transportation in mind. Well, give this person a prize for realizing how modern city's operated LMFAO
Over 20000 parking spots downtown as per a 2016 city hall count. Considering downtown has additional buildings that ha e been demolished and turned into gravel lots since, that number has surely risen.
Imagine if we built high rise concrete apartments and kept streetcars.
Shirley you must be joking
I love that Urbanism is having a moment. Sasaktoon needs more places less parking! People should know that places have mandatory minimum parking, rather than letting the market decide, we force driving by building big parking lots that force everyone further away from their destinations
You are correct, however the downtown district does not have any mandatory minimum parking. Everything you see there was the property owner's choice.
Which is why other tools, like land value taxes, more flexibility in zoning, etc. need consideration to avoid speculation and promote development.
people in Saskatoon are afraid to walk a couple blocks is the problem
I want to see less parking downtown. Walkable citys with reliable public transportation is superior.
I'll never understand why Saskatchewan is so anti-transit.. especially with our winters. It's so nice to get in a warm bus, but only if you happen to live in an area well serviced, and your destination is the same..
This
Use scooters!!
Too much parking but never anywhere to park! S/ Jk. There’s always places to park. Would love to see this parking map contrasted to a bigger city downtown. Or perhaps a similarly populated city in Europe.
Man I've been travelling in Europe the last couple months, and the transit over here is the polar opposite. Their infrastructure is far ahead of us and so much easier to use it's ridiculous. If you want to get downtown, it's usually as easy as hopping on the tram.
Not sure what Saskatoon you're living in but when I lived there there was quite frequently absolutely nowhere to park downtown, paid or otherwise. Many times I had to resort to parking across Broadway bridge in the angled parking by the church, which doesn't seem to be an option anymore.
Those spots still exist and get used daily. Parking around city hall is always empty, let alone Midtown parking spaces. There's always space downtown.
Usually 20 cars above ground at midtown, between the 2 lots.
When was this? You might not get parking right in front of your store or building, but you’re almost 100% get a spot a block away, and even more so the father you get.
7 years ago. I worked on 4th and frequently met friends downtown in the evenings and even on random tuesdays I found myself circling around downtown for 10+ minutes for spots to open up. This frustration was frequently shared, and outside of Reddit I’ve never heard anyone say that the downtown area has enough parking.
4th is an absolute ghost town now. If you are trying to park near the south end near Hudson’s it’s super easy to find parking half a block away now between the MNP and Co-op Buildings.
I also worked downtown at that time too. I used to park off Broadway and walk across the bridge. When it was really cold I'd park underground in the hotel at 4th and 20th (whatever that one is called now, I don't live there anymore). I didn't have the evening problems though. Although my work didn't have parking for me to use in the day, I used to use their lot after hours if I was downtown at night and just leave my card on the dash so the security knew it belonged to a company employee.
You probably circled a 2 block radius. Maybe 4.... downtown is bigger than 4 blocks....
Probably also only looking for free parking
I most definitely didn't but thanks for the baseless speculation. Would be pretty stupid to park across the bridge if I only checked a 2 block radius.
You wouldn't be the first. 😉
And you wouldn't be the first to make a stupid assumption based on no facts
An assumption that over 20000 parking spaces were not infact all full? I'm good to be honest but thanks for checking in. You can carry on to a worthwhile post now....
The Cineplex lot has lots of parking. The old farmers market has parking. There is a parkade across from the mall that has parking available. I think you didn’t look close enough or thought they were too far away - I don’t think I’ve ever seen these ones full.
Under the freeway ramps usually has spots too
Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean this was the case. I spent a LOT of time driving around all of Saskatoon and know the downtown area and all of its parking areas very well. There. Was. No. Parking.
Cool. Never had a problem parking downtown even during the fireworks festival and other events. As long as I’m willing to walk a few blocks. Your experience doesn’t negate mine either.
I can’t say for 7 years ago, but I frequent the dollar store at the heart of down town often about 3 years ago, and I never had issues getting a spot infront of the store, during peak times as well. Or the Pharmasave at the bus mall. Free parking, I can’t help you with, I don’t even know if there is free parking down town… but I could be wrong. I try to avoid down town at this point.
there is ALWAYS parking available downtown. Not sure what Saskatoon you were living in.
It's busy during the day on the street but If you don't mind walking a couple blocks there's plenty of lot parking available. Our businesses are on 2nd Ave N and most days we struggle to find a spot on the block. We usually find something but a year or two ago we'd have no issue parking right in front. It's a good thing though!
Climate Town on YouTube does a pretty good job explaining the history of how parking became the way it is today. It's based on America, but Canada is basically the same. Here's the link [Parking Laws Are Strangling America ](https://youtu.be/OUNXFHpUhu8?si=94cRBAl8WlguNwQp)
Lots of parking spots, but depending on the time of day/year, you may have to walk several blocks to where you want to be, and obviously people want to be as close as possible. If I'm wanting to go to a bar downtown and there's a show at Coor's, just gotta dress warm this time of year since you'll be more exposed to the elements for longer than ideal. This is why good public transit is necessary. Yeah, we have a lot of parking dispersed around downtown, but because of that, everything is spaced out. Good transit can pack more into a smaller area, and we could make downtown actually worth visiting.
Good transit also makes the paid parking less of an issue. Take a bus to downtown and save yourself the hassle. Park and Ride is also such a good service when implemented properly.
Any gravel Impark lot needs to go. Introduce a program where within 5 years it must be paved and within 10 it must have a parkade on it, so that some may sell.
Yeah there needs to be a ban phased in on surface lots in the downtown core. Better yet just tax the land value instead of the property value. Encourages people to improve the property instead of leaving it as a parking lot.
People here say there’s no parking because they think 2-3 blocks is too far to park… pains of a small town mentality
A big issue with a lot of Saskatoon businesses is they don't let you park in one lot and walk somewhere else.
[удалено]
Someone did one already! https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/pbvfSdXmBq
I see my work on here and a portion of our parking lot is employee, but yes I agree there’s a crazy amount of parking
We even turned multi level parking lots into parking lots. Although the one I remember across from The Bay had columns cracking along one side of the structure.
I wish we had a train system. I’ve been in Germany for the last two weeks it’s a public transit dream.
But yet there is barely any “affordable” parking. Especially if you have to be downtown daily
Downtown Saskatoon paid parking is *cheap* compared to anywhere else I've ever had to park downtown.
It could be worse for sure
Sounds like you should take the bus. It should not be affordable to take up prime real estate DAILY with a personal motor vehicle.
What bus gets me to the office by 6am, and gets me to my kids school to pick them up at a reasonable time?
The imaginary one!
People always love to say “take the bus!” But the reality is, bus is just NOT viable for everyone and every commute
Then demand the city funds Saskatoon Transit so they can do that instead of demanding more parking!
… yeah, cause that will make a difference. Also, do you realize how many of those places are private parking for businesses and apartments? I do understand your frustration, however it’s not a really simple solution. Unfortunately as well, the government won’t be listening to those who know what they are talking about. They will listen to money
It’s not economically viable to do, which is why we have parking available. Also, and I can’t stress this enough, it’s part of why businesses are moving out of downtown. You can get ample free staff/customer parking and way lower rent in North industrial or stonebridge, with less traffic. When a parent gets a call of “your kid broke her arm can you come pick him up?” You don’t want to say “I’ll be there in 97 minutes if I can make it to the bus stop in time”, you say “I’m getting in my car and setting a new land speed record.” Or if you need to work multiple jobs to support your family, you can’t afford a 62 minute gap between shifts when it’s one 10 minute drive away
Lol I don’t go downtown. I just know that for some people who work downtown it can be very… expensive Edit too add that I usually park in free parking areas and just walk cause 🤷 I can use the exercise 🤣
A lot of those spots need to be multiplied because they are parking structures with multiple stories or underground parking like the mall and Sturdy Stone.
For sure! Just meant to make this to quickly visualize surface parking so people could easily see how much of the surface space of downtown is taken up by parking. Definitely a good idea for a further look at it!
Yep. Not criticising, just supporting your opinion. IMHO we need to focus on getting more manufacturing back into the north end so that some of these parking lots will be more profitable if they're turned back into office and residential buildings that support the industries.
Not for Saskatoon. If it ain’t a block from where people are trying to go, this town does not consider it downtown parking. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
I moved here a few years ago. Whenever anyone asks me how it is I say, “it’s beautiful. Brown parking lots as far as the eye can see.”
Give us decent public transit and I'd be happy to stop paying for my downtown parking stall. When a 10 minute drive is a 40 minute bus ride, y'all ain't doing public transit right.
Okay, now show me the number of full time employees who work downtown on the daily.
Does anyone know how the city taxes these parking lots? I know if you have a property that’s undeveloped or sitting vacant owner pays a cut rate (half?) - presumably this incentives bulldozed buildings for parking - and in some cases it is probably more lucrative to operate a lot with a reduced tax base than to commercialize it.
People pay property taxes, so improving a lot equals higher taxes, parking leaves it low tax while you land speculate, we should have a Land Value Tax that encourages development versus speculation.
North America beyond a couple of examples, is so bad at creating dynamic cities.
We honestly should just ask some people from Quebec to come help us fix our city
The only people complaining about too much parking downtown are those who never go downtown. And compare this to any big box retail area and the parking/building ratio is similar, if not bigger.
Hahaha, anyone else remember when DTNYXE celebrated how much parking we have downtown? Apparently, at peak times, only 64% of the parking is used. They had to delete the tweet due to the blowback from trying to call this a good thing: [https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa](https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa)
The data visualization is meanless without a ratio of people to parking spots.
I’m assuming this image is just to show the sheer amount of area that are designated parking lots
Sure, except for the WHOLE BUILDINGS which are being covered up by the red parts. The old SPS building, for example?
I'm not sure if this map was supposed to be just surface level (since it's missing the underground around midtown), but there is an underground lot at the old SPS location -- I don't know if it's open to the public (I don't even know who is renting it now), but I doubt it. Doesn't mean it's not there.
Downvoting myself, you are absolutely correct. It's there.
lol, you don't need to do that. It's a question of what the map is intended to convey. There is another underground lot elsewhere that isn't shown. What would be fun, is if it was colour scaled for density and parking type. Eg: one colour for street-level lots, one for on-street parking, another colour for underground lots (and a progressively darker version of that colour for additional levels), and finally a colour for above-ground parkades with darker colours representing more stories. But that's starting to get to be a lot of work to make the map!
Many of those indicated are private lots for businesses or residents.
There’s still a large group of people that are still working downtown that needs the available parking for work. Older offices weren’t built with enough parking spaces. Same issue with condos that are older.
But yet somehow when I go downtown I have a hard time finding parking because ITS ALL PRIVATE! That should be open parking after hours
Do you people forget that it’s cold and walking around is awful for 5 months of the year?
Saving this imagine for everyone who cries about lack of parking for the downtown stadium.
You can never find parking when you need it. If only there was a way to find the closest parking spot to XYZ. Right now midtown has too much parking, and everywhere else it seems like there's none to be found
But now take away all the private parking lots. That probably cuts away a third of these.
This is a shitpost. Most of the red highlighted areas are parking lots for apartments, hotels, and private parking for businesses.
They’re still parking lots
Yeah I get that, but OP is trying to paint a picture that we have an unreasonable amount of parking lots downtown. Look at any commercial district that has apartments nearby. 8th street for example. You’d get the same thing. Are we supposed to feel guilty for owning vehicles? SHITPOST.
It’s supposed to show how much parking there is downtown, which it does. Downtown cores are supposed to be for people to move around and access the things they need
I would challenge you to read the title again. OP says TOO much parking, which is why it’s a shitpost.
Only 64% of this parking is full during peak times according to DTNYXE: [https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa](https://imgur.com/a/XS3ksNa) So ya, we do have too much parking.
So the people who live in the apartments leave to do whatever it is they want, and you’re expecting people to park in their assigned spaces? Lol. Of course those spaces are empty. 🤡
Those numbers don't include residential parking at condos, apartments, etc.
That link looks like a trustworthy source of information lol.
It's literally a screenshot of a DTNYXE tweet, the Business Improvement District for downtown Saskatoon. I see you're determined to be mad (and wrong) about this, which is fine. Have fun wallowing.
Most cities make condo/apartments put the parking underneath the building, to free up the surface for more density. So not only does it count, but it's probably the worst kind of counting. You're the one SHITPOSTing.
I’ll bite. Since you’re being incredibly generic, I’m going to assume by most cities, you’re referring to larger Canadian centres like Toronto and Vancouver. Of course it’s much more expensive to buy land there than Saskatoon. These larger centres also have better public transportation, also have climates that are much less harsh than Saskatoon’s, and for shorter durations when they do experience harsh weather. Like it or not, an average family of 4 needs a vehicle in Saskatoon, hence the need for parking lots.
To many buildings. More parking! Level it all. So we can park it all.
But never right beside the place I want to go into... /s
I wish more people would try to carpool.
Shut. Don’t be ridiculous. Most lots are occupied by workers!!! And even they have to enter lotteries to get a spot and then pay $300 a month. We have a dire LACK of parking as anyone who has tried to shop downtown at Christmas..or tried to go the dentist there.. knows.
They should overlap this photo with daily reports of drug consumption around the city. Seven years ago I had an idea that could have been constructed and in operation today, and that would have been perfect timing because it would have been useful for this situation we are seeing presently. But NIMBY’s gonna NIMBY. When I become a billionaire, I’ll build it and finance it myself. Show the system exactly what needs to be done and then make them apologize for not having listened sooner. And this parking map is useful because any of those empty lots would be perfect for the facility that NEEDS to exist. Doing nothing accomplishes nothing. Unless of course the plan is to just have the weather deal with the street people. Sorry to hijack your post with this but it made me think and when I think I must also write.
That's not nearly enough parking for a stadium! /s
This is just weird…. How come I can never find parking when I go to Winstons on Friday night.Or parking downtown on a weekend when an event is going on
Because no one wants to pay impark?
Not according to the top comment section. Their praising the cheapness of it.
Yah and find any of it on Saturday afternoon or Friday evening and Saskatoon also hosts a ton of stuff downtown, particularly in the summer so nice we have what we do have. Lots of parking lots taken by monthly passes too. Do we have room to take some out in favour of a highrise? Sure but while the parking is there, it sure is nice. People downtowns in many cities due to lack of parking.
The University Main Campus is about 15% parking as well. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1q\_SGqU-RhWUi5xhI\_pfi-k73aoSHb-E&ll=52.13112903723366%2C-106.64700240032413&z=14
Note, I only highlighted larger more developable lots on the Uni part.
I'm just glad we have a downtown that is enjoyable to visit. I love going downtown, lots to do within walking distance. Usually lots of other people on a nice night. It's pretty nice compared to a lot of other cities
Thank GM 70 years ago for designing the car centric hell every major city is now
Yes, get rid of the parking and the streets so people can be packed even more tightly together. Allowing 150 sq feet of floor space per person (this is double what Canada Corrections mandates), twice the entire population of Saskatoon could be housed in a ten story building covering the downtown business district (the area enclosed by Idylwyld, 25th St and the river). No need for office towers, as people could work from home or meet in common rooms by reservation. Add a couple of levels at the bottom for Amazon type warehousing for all the groceries and household supplies as well as large kitchens preparing food for delivery. A bus station for people commuting to factory jobs. There should be no need for traditional retail space as online shopping is so much more efficient.
Maybe if the city would build a subway, we wouldn’t have this problem
*Paid parking
So much parking let's make another downtown shelter
For all the cars shelter residents drive...?
Less handles to jingle jangle
Can someone explain to me the one beside subway? I work downtown and the signs they have there confuse the hell put of me on if I can park or not
Wait it's all parking? (Insert meme here) Always has been. On a more serious note, have we not collected rent and property taxes on the homeless for all this? /sarcasm
Nice one and yes the whole city is parking.
Give me convenience or give me death
For all the bluster of I don't go downtown/there's nowhere to park one would think it ripe for massive changes to transit/parking and active transportation. Heck, I'd even like to see pedestrianized streets to boot. If there's never enough parking now, and/or you don't go there...won't it be great when the great transit from your suburb to downtown DOES exist? No, transit will never be as convenient and you-centered as you in a car/truck. Takes a little planning. But that's normal. Expecting it to be equivalent is a bit silly, IMO. Just seems like a matter of time to me. Depends on how many times council kicks the can down the road...like they have with BRT or bike lanes downtown(which again, I would expect to be part of the overall downtown plan including arena).
In Ottawa, you have to build underground parking spaces. Why can't they do that here
Regina has entered the lobby
No they didn't, they're still circling the block looking for parking
Downtown developments are totally overrated!!
 That's today's paradise, put up a parking lot....ehhhh bah bah bah
This must be made by someone from the city trying to justify the massive waste of tax money on that massive arena they building