Calgary to look at popular alternative to street parking

Nobody likes paying for street parking, but imagine if the money collected went directly into improvements for the community where you parked.

That's the idea behind Parking Benefit Districts (PBD), a concept gaining traction in a number of U.S. cities and may be on its way to Calgary.

"Parking Benefit Districts provide a solution to that political problem (of charging for street parking) as it creates a mechanism where the revenue generated stays in that local area," explains Greg Morrow, who sits on the CalgaryPlanning Commission and holds the Parker Professorship in Metropolitan Growth and Change with the faculty of environmental design and Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. "You can direct parking revenue into local improvements like sidewalks, or installing new themed street lights."

Citizens of the Calgary community of University Heights packed temporary council and two adjoining rooms on July 23 to listen in on a proposed area redevelopment plan (ARP) for Stadium Shopping Centre on 16th Avenue and Uxbridge Drive NW.

In council, Mayor Naheed Nenshi explained to the full house that all public submissions on the site were talking about density and land use, factors which were not on the table for the July 23 meeting.