^ Even without any parking minimums, tall buildings will still gravitate towards a tower-on-a-podium model. The podium will be filled with parking anyway, maybe not one spot per unit but enough to fill up one or two floorplates.
The podium model offers certain advantages for highrise development. The base offers a convenient place for storage lockers, bike rooms, loading dock, mail room, generous lobby, plus lucrative commercial space to boot. The side setbacks for the tower provide light and air to residential units even on the side, and create a roof deck where pampered people can lounge in comfort or walk their perfectly groomed pooches. Unfortunately, the developer's (and the residents') gain is our loss, as podium towers act like vertical gated communities.
Obviously I'm in favor of allowing midrise developments to spring up in the neighborhoods or wherever, but it seems we are stuck with a zoning code for the foreseeable future that puts a scarcity on downtown land, and bans buildings taller than 80' outside of downtown unless the developer goes through a torturous and lengthy PD process.
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la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas! que le coeur d'un mortel...
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