The Editor,
Re. "Does highrise development next to SkyTrain need so much parking?" (Opinion, tricitynews.com, June 26).
Actually, the simple answer is Yes.
This is not Europe, where, in many regions, owning private transportation is simply not needed. Our transportation infrastructure fails to accommodate most transportation needs. It is narrow-banded — and this is my polite description of it.
Travel 10 minutes in virtually any direction and SkyTrain becomes useless — and don't even get me started about buses. One may wish to use SkyTrain to travel to and from work IF it manages to accommodate this need. But with virtually anything else, it's useless.
Our society is a mobile society and our lands are quite spacious. Most people require a form of alternate transportation. This form becomes ultimately a vehicle of some sort.
So, back to the original article's question: Where are the owners of such vehicles going to park/store their vehicle? On the street? I don't think so. The only real question should be asking whether there should be two parking spaces or just one for each respective ownership.
Perhaps a better question to address is: Is the need for densification justification to land-lock and confine people's movements?
As for costs of properties, of course the requirements for parking spaces add costs. This is part of life. Get over it.
Michael Sonntag, Port Coquitlam
