Lack of off street parking can be a great thing for neighborhoods is a great thing (Baltimore, Dallas)
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I think NYC also does a good job of salting the roads ahead of time, which helps prevent larger amounts of snow from accumulating on the streets
No.
Salt rock and brining roads works on high traffic roads in low snow situations and mixed precipitation. If it starts snowing an inch and hour or more for a few hours, rock salt/brining will be overwhelmed. NYC plows critical roads first. There are areas of NYC that may not see a plow until the storm is long gone.
I live in an area with alley facing garages, and your claims do not apply to my area. Replies in red
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Originally Posted by MidValleyDad
Alley parking is expensive in several ways.
1) It increases the amount of impermiable surface which increase stormwater runoff. This is a problem in many urban and suburban areas and in fact has become a criteria thatdevelopers in my state (Maryland) have to allow for in developments. In a recent development in our town it completely changed a development which had very nice alleys and rear garages and forced them to go with traditional front loading garages.
I'm not familiar with this issue so probably it isn't one in my area of the country (Denver)
2) Alleys require more maintenance either by an HOA or the municipality. Besides normal maintenance if garages that people are expected to use are on them they have to have snow removal, salt/sanding, etc in winter months. Alleys usually have no place to push snow to the side so it is necessary to use 'bucket loaders' and trucks to actually remove the snow. This is very time consuming and expensive
Residents are responsible for our own snow removal. We shovel out our driveways and the alley area in front of our garage, and put the snow into the grass strip areas that surround the alley
3) If alleys are used for trash removal they need to be wide enough for large trucks which makes them almost the size of streets. Most municipalities around here have the trash (and recycling) picked up at the front curb for these reasons even if alleys are present.
Our alley is a little over a car width wide. The trash truck goes in one direction and gets one side of the alley, pulls out of the alley and then goes the opposite direction and picks up the trash from the other side of the alley. No issues.
These factors make alleys very expensive. The adjacent property owners in many cases would prefer to have the extra space as yard instead of alley.
We have side yards between the homes. I'm thrilled to have an alley facing garage and no driveways in the front. But I wouldn't trade off having a garage, esp. in a location where there are sometimes snowstorms where we measure accumulation in feet rather than inches.
As for the general topic, well, it's certainly easier to achieve in locations where the buildings pre-date private passenger automobiles.
Lack of on off street parking can be a pain in the NECK for a neighborhood. It causes all the available on street parking to be used to the max since there is no where else for residents who have cars to put their cars. Which in turn causes problems for people who want to visit or who may need a car for work. How about that plumber you called who can't even find a space on the block?
1) It increases the amount of impermiable surface which increase stormwater runoff. This is a problem in many urban and suburban areas and in fact has become a criteria thatdevelopers in my state (Maryland) have to allow for in developments. In a recent development in our town it completely changed a development which had very nice alleys and rear garages and forced them to go with traditional front loading garages.
Not a problem if the sewer system is built to cope with it.
2) Alleys require more maintenance either by an HOA or the municipality. Besides normal maintenance if garages that people are expected to use are on them they have to have snow removal, salt/sanding, etc in winter months. Alleys usually have no place to push snow to the side so it is necessary to use 'bucket loaders' and trucks to actually remove the snow. This is very time consuming and expensive
Err not in Chicago. The alleys may or may not be cleared by the city depending on how much snow fell and alleys have the lowest priority when it comes to snow removal(i.e. Main streets first, side streets next and alleys last). Chicago simply puts a snow plow on the normal garbage truck and pushes the snow the both sides of the alley(often blocking cars in their Garages until the owner digs out a path). They city does not salt or sand the alley. Residents dig out the area in front of the garage and often dig paths or fight the snow driving to the street. Getting stuck in snow in an alley is a common occurrence.
3) If alleys are used for trash removal they need to be wide enough for large trucks which makes them almost the size of streets. Most municipalities around here have the trash (and recycling) picked up at the front curb for these reasons even if alleys are present.
Err no. Streets are wider. An alley can just barely fit a fire truck and no parking is allowed in an alley for that reason(in case the fire department needs to come to the back of the building). A typical Chicago Side street can fit parked cars on both sides of the street and allow traffic to flow through. An alley just barely has enough space for two cars to pass each other. Also keeping the trash in the alley results in a much cleaner city. They also serve as place for ugly things like utility poles to be run out of sight from the street and as a place for children to play.
These factors make alleys very expensive. The adjacent property owners in many cases would prefer to have the extra space as yard instead of alley.
Not true at all. The alley puts some space between you and your neighbor to the back. It is only in suburbia where large houses and large yards are more desired that this could be true.
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We have side yards between the homes. I'm thrilled to have an alley facing garage and no driveways in the front. But I wouldn't trade off having a garage, esp. in a location where there are sometimes snowstorms where we measure accumulation in feet rather than inches.
Chicago tends to top out at about 14-18 inches of snow per really heavy snowfall, but a garage is nice for those days when you get light snow or freezing rain.
Lack of on off street parking can be a pain in the NECK for a neighborhood. It causes all the available on street parking to be used to the max since there is no where else for residents who have cars to put their cars. Which in turn causes problems for people who want to visit or who may need a car for work. How about that plumber you called who can't even find a space on the block?
Rowhouses with driveways and buildings with parking garages in NYC (and presumably other highly urban cities as well) grant you 1, maybe 2 parking spaces. Assuming you are home, your plumber would still have to find a spot unless you go and find an on street spot yourself. Plumbers tend to operate during standard work hours anyway, meaning that finding a spot shouldn't be that hard.
Chicago is the alleyway Capital of the world. Its power-line poles Aldo run down the aalys and frees the fronts from them where not underground as in the core or last growth of the city.
This was posted on a Chicago reddit link....
From a comment in the link from someone
- I've lived in NYC for 6 years and currently living my 4th year here in Chicago.
Let me tell you something about Chicago's alleys. They are the greatest thing that Chicago has ever created (Ok, maybe that's too much), but seriously.
In NYC, there is no alleys. Go to Manhattan during garbage days. Disgusting. Why? because all the places of NYC dumps their garbage in front to be collected. Usually, the garbage trucks pick it up before the city wakes up. But, in order for that to happen, the restaurants and other establishments will dump their garbage in front at like 8-10 PM. You're walking down the city late at night and it stinks because the garbage bags are in front.
That's not even the worse part. The worst part is during Winter when the streets haven't been plowed yet and you wake up in the morning, commute to Manhattan, and see the city riddled with stinking garbage bags covered in snow.
Seriously. Google image NYC Garbage Pile and the pictures are exactly what it looks like.
Chicago is the alley capital of the country, with more than 1,900 miles of them within its borders.
*** They clearly serve a purpose .... even if more outdated today and clearly the alleys are lined with SANITARY lidded trash bins the city provides .... and their taxes pay for.
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Originally Posted by Foamposite
Why live in a city if you want a luxury sports car? You're not going to go very fast with it in NYC anyway
On this I'd say ... if you have a Lamborghini or Bugatti if very rich. Why wouldn't you want it to have its own condo in the skyscraper building with you? Chicago is king of the Podium-style high-rise to skyscraper. They have a garage lower-level. But most newer at least .... add retail surrounding the garage or eateries and sometimes ..... you never know its even there. Till you see the entrance. Chicago does not need to build needle-thin buildings. But some are getting there.
Examples where the garage is hidden
2nd and 3rd flow windows are basically fake as the garage.
Rowhouses with driveways and buildings with parking garages in NYC (and presumably other highly urban cities as well) grant you 1, maybe 2 parking spaces. Assuming you are home, your plumber would still have to find a spot unless you go and find an on street spot yourself. Plumbers tend to operate during standard work hours anyway, meaning that finding a spot shouldn't be that hard.
In Chicago buildings usually don't have parking and homes that are rented might not allow the renter to use the garage. The result can be quite a headache at times if you live in a area with a lot of buildings. Chicago has few driveways and cars are technically not allow to park in the driveway(it blocks the sidewalk). In areas with bad parking people dare not move their cars else they find no parking and so there can be a lack of parking at all times. If the area in general lacks parking people will be tempted to park on side streets again taking up parking. The problem is so bad that the city has a system of parking zones so that people who live on the block can actually get parking on their block and they are quite willing to pay a little extra for zoned parking.
A garbage truck is 8 feet wide. You don’t need much alley width to accommodate a garbage truck.
If it’s Buffalo, sure, snow removal is an issue in a narrow alleyway. Most places don’t see that kind of snow.
My sister lives in Vancouver with a 33 foot lot and alley parking. Very high walkability. Quick walk to major bus routes. I think it’s the perfect density.
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