Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
Part of it seems to have been the shift to the "subdivision" model. I mean, alleys require twice as much paving, and if you're leaving it up to the developer to plot and pave the initial streets, they're going to do the minimum required by code.
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I'm not sure what the reason for it was, but it's not just Edmonton - Regina and Saskatoon are like that too and Calgary is even more like that since it's been building laneways during the 80s to present is significant numbers too. I think British Columbia and Manitoba's bigger cities were building neighbourhoods with laneways in the 50s and 60s but not so much in the 70s-80s like Alberta was. That's still much later than Toronto though which wasn't even building them in most of its 1920s streetcar suburbs.
I think laneways make the most sense in semi-dense neighbourhoods where front-loading the garages would have a major aesthetic impact on homes built on 25-40 ft wide lots. I'm not sure why Prairie cities built them in their 50s-70s suburbs though since those were mostly on 50-60 ft wide lots, but it does come in handy for intensification.
Here's an example of infill in Glengarry (Calgary) which was mostly built out in the early-mid 50s.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.03257...7i16384!8i8192
This infill development represents a full 4-fold increase in density, replacing ranch homes on ~50 ft wide lots with 4-5 three bedroom homes. Here's what they look like from the street.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.03231...i16384!8i8192\
Anyways, with new development in Edmonton and Calgary being back to the 25-35 ft wide lots of streetcar suburbs, I can see why they're bringing back alleys to avoid having snout houses. Also with narrow lots and front-loaded parking, all the on-street parking would get eaten up by road-cuts for the driveways. But I think it's still a waste of space if they don't also make the street narrower and reduce front setbacks.
Houses with no laneways on the left vs houses with laneways on the right:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.89639...7i13312!8i6656