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Old 08-21-2015, 05:58 PM
 
Location: Stanton Heights
778 posts, read 834,611 times
Reputation: 869

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I work with several people who are daily bike commuters, and they all have cars. They don't drive them every day, but they do have them and need somewhere to put them. I don't know anyone in Pittsburgh over the age of 25 that doesn't have a car (and I live and work in the east end) other than a few anarchist punks. Rest assured, none of them can afford these apartments.
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Old 08-21-2015, 07:31 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
1,491 posts, read 1,446,589 times
Reputation: 1067
The city would also not approve most projects of this size unless there were a minimum of 1 parking spot per unit. Like it or not, there is a parking problem in the city, and the vast majority of people own cars. It would be ideal for less people to own cars and have more people rely on public transit, ride shares, and bikes. Having said that, its not likely for most people to give up their cars any time soon.
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Old 08-21-2015, 08:16 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,873,163 times
Reputation: 12390
Quote:
Originally Posted by theta_sigma View Post
I work with several people who are daily bike commuters, and they all have cars. They don't drive them every day, but they do have them and need somewhere to put them. I don't know anyone in Pittsburgh over the age of 25 that doesn't have a car (and I live and work in the east end) other than a few anarchist punks. Rest assured, none of them can afford these apartments.
Again, this development pretty clearly seems to hew to the one space per unit parking minimums which are normal for all Pittsburgh development outside of downtown. Presuming the development is mostly apartments, and not townhouses, it will mostly consist of studios and one-bedroom apartments, meaning most units will be occupied by only one person.

Of course, some units will have two residents - very occasionally perhaps more than this as well. However, in the vast majority of cases these will be couples, as generally random roommates won't spring for something that high end. Pittsburgh is not really feasible for a totally car-free lifestyle, but it is feasible for one-car households. I also expect that a (somewhat small) minority of the residents of the studios/one bedroom apartments will have no cars, which will free up a few spaces for two-car households in the eventual complex.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jea6321 View Post
The city would also not approve most projects of this size unless there were a minimum of 1 parking spot per unit. Like it or not, there is a parking problem in the city, and the vast majority of people own cars. It would be ideal for less people to own cars and have more people rely on public transit, ride shares, and bikes. Having said that, its not likely for most people to give up their cars any time soon.
I think this supposition is totally wrong. I just saw an article this morning that the first totally automated cars should be on the market by 2020. Automated cars will change urban car usage radically very quickly, causing casual car users (e.g., people who don't need a car for work, but use them for random shopping trips and socialization) to begin ditching cars for rental services. Perhaps more importantly, it will allow cars to be parked remotely someplace cheap, and "hailed" via phone to come somewhere in high demand when needed, which will cause a lot of commercial parking needs to totally collapse.
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Old 08-21-2015, 08:23 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,268,091 times
Reputation: 19071
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
Again, this development pretty clearly seems to hew to the one space per unit parking minimums which are normal for all Pittsburgh development outside of downtown. Presuming the development is mostly apartments, and not townhouses, it will mostly consist of studios and one-bedroom apartments, meaning most units will be occupied by only one person.

Of course, some units will have two residents - very occasionally perhaps more than this as well. However, in the vast majority of cases these will be couples, as generally random roommates won't spring for something that high end. Pittsburgh is not really feasible for a totally car-free lifestyle, but it is feasible for one-car households. I also expect that a (somewhat small) minority of the residents of the studios/one bedroom apartments will have no cars, which will free up a few spaces for two-car households in the eventual complex.
I have to admit that my partner and I could never conceivably go "sans car" here in Polish Hill, but we'd definitely be able to be a one-car household instead of a two-car household. I could drive him to work on the North Shore in the morning, and he could walk or take the 54D home when I'm using my car for work in the afternoon. We run all of our weekend morning errands (laundry, groceries, Starbucks, Target, etc.) together, anyways, and I drive 100% of the time. One of us would need to rent a car on Thanksgiving and Christmas when we split to see our families in different parts of the state. Otherwise it would probably be pretty liberating for one of us to eschew our car loan payment and car insurance payment every month.
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Old 08-24-2015, 07:44 AM
 
3,291 posts, read 2,740,188 times
Reputation: 3375
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly View Post
so unless I can do this by myself, I can't have an opinion on it? ok
You know you are allowed to advocate for things, right?
ha funny, the post of yours that I replied to, was presented as you are correct and everyone else who doesn't agree is living in an alternate universe. now its just an opinion? instead of criticizing the the people who are actually doing things, why not do a project of your own if you want it to be exactly to your standards? You'll realize that practically no one gets exactly what they want and reality tends to set in quickly.

Last edited by _Buster; 08-24-2015 at 07:54 AM..
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Old 08-24-2015, 08:16 AM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,840,242 times
Reputation: 4107
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly View Post
or you could just realize that Pittsburgh is full of young progressive people who want to live a car-less or car-lite lifestyle and use public transit, walk, and live in an urban environment that doesn't cater to parking and parking lots and parking garages. I know plenty of people here in Chicago that can afford $2500 1 BR apartments who could easily afford a car but choose not to. They use public transit and walk/bike. If they need a car, there is zip car, cab, or uber. You can talk about how Pittsburgh isn't on this or that city's level yet when it comes to public transit, but you can start by making changes to the new built environment by focusing on people, retail, street integration and density. This isn't the suburbs. Those who want parking still have plenty of existing options for places to live. Pittsburgh is a blank canvas full of opportunity to create dense, urban environments in sites like this, and they have the young educated progressive population to do so.
A.) you need the transit system first before people will dump their cars. Not many people are going to go car free in anticipation of a robust transit system.

B.) outside of people who can't afford it or hardcore activists of some sort (though these usually fall under the can't afford it group too) I know relatively no one that is here sans a vehicle voluntarily. Definitely virtually none among the young professional group that the development is targeted to. I know many people (myself included) who don't use their vehicle very often, but it's still necessary or desirable to have available.

When it comes to transportation pittsburgh & chicago are worlds apart. I'm sure people here would indeed ditch car ownership if transit was significantly improved but I don't see that happening anytime unfortunately
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Old 08-24-2015, 08:32 AM
 
Location: Awkward Manor
2,576 posts, read 3,073,908 times
Reputation: 1684
I have been voluntarily car-free since 1996. I can afford a car. I am not some sort of hard core activist. I choose to live in a walkable urban neighborhood, that has the types of amenities that I like.

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Old 08-24-2015, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,491,008 times
Reputation: 3107
Quote:
Originally Posted by _Buster View Post
ha funny, the post of yours that I replied to, was presented as you are correct and everyone else who doesn't agree is living in an alternate universe. now its just an opinion? instead of criticizing the the people who are actually doing things, why not do a project of your own if you want it to be exactly to your standards? You'll realize that practically no one gets exactly what they want and reality tends to set in quickly.
the type of argument you present gets old quickly. "instead of complaining about it why don't you get the resources needed together and go do it yourself"...I am in healthcare...I have other things I am invested and busy with..that doesn't mean I can't express my opinion on a topic.
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Old 08-24-2015, 10:18 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,491,008 times
Reputation: 3107
Quote:
Originally Posted by doo dah View Post
I have been voluntarily car-free since 1996. I can afford a car. I am not some sort of hard core activist. I choose to live in a walkable urban neighborhood, that has the types of amenities that I like.

you are apparently the only one according to everyone here.
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Old 08-24-2015, 10:27 AM
 
Location: Awkward Manor
2,576 posts, read 3,073,908 times
Reputation: 1684
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly View Post
you are apparently the only one according to everyone here.
Plus, I am over 25!

I am a unicorn.
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