Apartment Boom Continues Downtown

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by juliegt

That's the beauty of Zip Cars. You can easily get a car when you need one without the expense of owning one. Makes so much sense for dense urban areas where parking is at a premium.

Just be forwarned. Zip cars aren't everywhere here. You might not have access to one near your new house.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Just be forwarned. Zip cars aren't everywhere here. You might not have access to one near your new house.

I know. I was referring to people choosing to live downtown. I'll need my own car in Crafton.

[pman]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

I understand that the residential projects in town already require tax abatement and other public help to make them a reality at the current, relatively high prices. If it wasn't for this tax forgiveness, they wouldn't be able to get a sufficient market at the prices they would otherwise have to charge.

Since prospective tenants are sufficiently well-heeled to be able to afford the current downtown rents, most of them are going to have cars that they will need to park. That's a considerable cost as well, which might reduce the market for the units considerably if the city wasn't willing to consider help in parking. Since the city already owns the public parking authority garages, it isn't an expensive perk for the city to give.

actually, downtown is probably fit for all income levels. the well heeled don't need a subsidy to afford a space, the integral parking can be built and paid for by the sales/rent. it's the middle of the road projects that he'd like a subsidy for. the reason for the abatement is that bringing old buildings up to modern code is expensive but it's not generating money for the city when it's empty either (or underused). there's a healthy market for parking, PMC seems to be moving right along without any parking handouts, perhaps because it knows that downtown markets really aren't dependent on parking. if you work downtown and live there you're need for a full time car is pretty low, it's then a luxury rather than a necessity. even if you worked in oakland or east liberty, transit service is robust. no further proof is needed than the robust pace at which the residential market is expanding as it is even before the announcement that the rda is going to build parking. it doesn't matter. times have changed.

Originally Posted by Hopes

Just be forwarned. Zip cars aren't everywhere here. You might not have access to one near your new house.

right, but the more demand, the more zipcars there will be. it isn't a fixed number. you shouldn't build a garage because there "aren't enough zip cars."