Targeting remaining large surface lots downtown

[KC0KEK]

I bet you do . . . think about when you're out Christmas shopping and the parking lots are full.

True, they usually are full then. But even that doesn't faze me, except for Oak Park Mall, which I avoid anyway. Maybe I'm the exception, but I don't mind walking.

[kevink]

One thing I'd like to see re-thought is how parking structures are incorporated into a plan for a block. . .  Start by dividing a block into three parts instead of the traditional two (building, alley, building).  Put the parking structure in the center of the block, then wrap the real building around it.  Obviously the building would then only be 30-40 feet deep instead of the 100+ it is now in a conventional city block, but then a building would just be longer across the street facade and not as deep (an advantage to this layout would be more rooms in a building could have windows, because more of the occupiable space in on an exterior wall instead of buried in the middle of the block)

It's a pretty simple trick - the key is making sure the garage is a rational dimension that works for parking and aisles. The rest is just a "liner" building that can be any number of uses. Best part of this is the garage can be very cheaply built, b/c no one really sees it, except at drive and pedestrian entry/exit points. I'll try and attach an image here, but I think I'm bit web-challenged for this:

[Long]

Yeah, like that. . . although you could also take the block as a whole, span the parking garage across the alley, which would allow both the garage and the liner building to be wider.  The more depth the building has, the more flexible it is-- although residential wouldn't need much depth.  In fact, narrower works best for residential so more rooms are on an outside wall. 

I would also look at covering the ends of the garage with building, so the garage is entirely enclosed. 

[kevink]

Yeah, like that. . . although you could also take the block as a whole, span the parking garage across the alley, which would allow both the garage and the liner building to be wider.  The more depth the building has, the more flexible it is-- although residential wouldn't need much depth.  In fact, narrower works best for residential so more rooms are on an outside wall. 
I would also look at covering the ends of the garage with building, so the garage is entirely enclosed. 

Yes, that was an example from an infill situation where we were squeezing a garage into mostly built fabric. But, conceptually, you're correct. In general, I like to keep the garages at 120 feet wide vs 180 feet, b/c the wider ones get dark in the middle, and tend to scare off some patrons, esp women. At 20 or 30 feet of depth on the liner, you get a walk-up or single-loaded corridor, 50+ can get you the double-loaded corridor. The former has wide but shallow retail spaces, the latter has narrow but deep spaces - either can work given the context.