Article: Driven out: cars lose their lustre for a new crop of inner-city residen

[ozbob]

From the Sydney Morning Herald click here!

Driven out: cars lose their lustre for a new crop of inner-city residents

Driven out: cars lose their lustre for a new crop of inner-city residents
April 6, 2013 Sam Hall

When it is complete, Barangaroo will have just one car space for every 14 people commuting to the new area.

It is not an oversight; Lend Lease, the developer of the $6 billion project, has instead proposed a ferry terminal and improved pedestrian links for its expected 23,000 daily arrivals, and has been lauded for its vision of a future where the car is out of the picture.

Australia's addiction to the car is unequivocal: a record 1.1 million new vehicles were sold last year. But recent data confirms the love affair is waning fast for those in the inner city.

Eighty-four per cent of Sydney's inner-city workers now commute by public transport. Census figures from 2011 show the number of cars driven to work in the city dropped 9 per cent in five years, while the number of workers rose 9 per cent.

The City of Sydney council has begun restricting the number of car spaces allowed in new apartment blocks. According to the council's general manager of city access and transport, Terry Lee-Williams, the ruling has a two-pronged effect: cheaper housing and less inner-city congestion.

''The additional cost of an apartment with a parking space is now anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000, so for people buying into the city market, quite often they just don't want to wear the cost of parking,'' he said.

''And because when you buy one of those apartments you're not eligible to park on the street either, it helps rule out the decision of buying a car for many. It's basically the closer you live to the city, the less parking spaces you're allowed; the further you live from the city, the more parking spaces you're allowed.''

It is a similar scenario in Melbourne, where the chief architect behind an approved 108-level tower has allocated only 500 residential car spaces for the development's 646 apartments, 288-room six-star hotel and retail and office space.

Nonda Katsalidis, of Fender Katsalidis Architects, predicted car spaces would become a less valuable commodity in concentrated urban centres.

''Twenty years ago it would have been unheard of, but for many people living in the inner city, cars are not that important any more,'' Mr Katsalidis said.

''We have incorporated lots of light parking into the Australia 108 development because approximately 10 to 15 per cent of people will go to work on a bike.''

Mr Lee-Williams said the trend would only become more pronounced.

In long-established developments where parking is abundant - such as Sydney's World Square - there are already instances of renters and owners advertising empty car spaces to subsidise their costs.

There are increasing examples of car-sharing facilities being incorporated into new developments. The Central Park development on Broadway has been earmarked for 70 car spaces for shared users.

''Only 25 per cent of driving-aged teenagers now have a driving licence in the city,'' Mr Lee-Williams said.

''They're just not interested and they don't see the value in having a very expensive asset which they don't use that much."

[justanotheruser]

I know a number of inner city residents who use rentals from Go Get. Due to limited parking space they find it easier to pay a small monthly membership fee and then a rental fee whenever they book a car. My brother is one of the people I know and recently hired a van to help me move house and also when we used a studio photo gift card. Even though he is allowed to park in his street free of charge if he displays a permit parking in the street is often hard to find as there are people happy to pay for parking in the street. Most of the time he will ride his pushbike to work unless it is raining where he can take either tram/bus and then train to work. So yes is shunning driving most of the time but occasionly uses a car which is made easier by different kind of car rental system.