Skip to content

Parking Madness: Detroit vs. Atlanta

Yesterday, Chicago's United Center parking lots bested Denver's Court Place parking crater in the first match-up of Parking Madness 2014. Today, two heavyweights are facing off: It's the motor city versus sprawl city in a bare-knuckle brawl of car infrastructure run amok.
parking_madness_2014_2

Yesterday, Chicago’s United Center parking lots bested Denver’s Court Place parking crater in the first match-up of Parking Madness 2014. Today, two heavyweights are facing off: It’s the motor city versus sprawl city in a bare-knuckle brawl of car infrastructure run amok.

Without further ado, here’s the Detroit entry. Warning: This could get ugly.

detroit_madness

This picture really needs no further elaboration. Submitter Gerald Fittipaldi says these lots are only used infrequently, during sporting events, and that there’s potential here for mixed-use development.

On to Atlanta:

gulch

This area of downtown Atlanta is known as “the Gulch,” which is a pretty good name for a parking crater, come to think of it. The entire site is more or less surrounded by elevated roads. It used to be a rail yard, but is now awaiting a big development project.

The choice is yours. Which is more horrible? Cast your votes below.

Photo of Angie Schmitt
Angie is a Cleveland-based writer with a background in planning and newspaper reporting. She has been writing about cities for Streetsblog for six years.

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.

More from Streetsblog USA

In New Jersey, Mayors Show How Quickly We Can Slow Down Drivers

June 12, 2026

Friday Video: What Happens When World Cup Fans Come to America

June 12, 2026

Friday’s Headlines Are Still Dangerous

June 12, 2026

Talking Headways Podcast: Are Arterials Unsafe? Or Are We Making Them Unsafe?

June 11, 2026

Latest Report Shows That Sprawl Continues To Hamstring Youth, Limit Opportunities

June 11, 2026
See all posts