Toronto Condominiums And Car Sharing

The majority of downtown Toronto condominium owners are mere steps to everything they could ever need, but still need a car every now and then. Enter car-sharing, a service that allows Toronto condo owners to rent cars as they need them without worrying about a thing.

The site of the 426 University Avenue condominiums in downtown Toronto shows the narrow lot.

Some new Toronto condominiums are already planning on offering car sharing instead of parking, such as the 42-storey condominium development on University Ave which will offer no parking whatsoever aside from car-share spots and bikes. This controversial condominium didn’t have space for a parking lot in such a narrow location, and after much debate the experiment was approved. Other Toronto-area condos offer their residents special discounts on the service instead, but still maintain parking spaces for regular cars.

Car-sharing companies also offer a wide variety of models, from functional SUVs for IKEA shopping sprees to swanky BMWs for impressing dates, by the hour or for days at a time.

Car-sharing companies make it easy to not worry about the costs associated with car ownership like insurance costs, parking fees and repairs. For example, car-sharing company Zip Car has cars parked all over the city that Torontonians can quickly reserve online. Members receive a special card that allows them to walk up to the car and unlock it when it’s their turn and drive away. Gas is free, insurance and kilometers are included. Zip Car in particular estimates that each of their almost 7,000 cars in North America takes 20 personally-owned cars off the road, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and truly making car-sharing Toronto condos the greenest of all.

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