Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Chicago

Parking Madness Final Four: Chicago vs. Jacksonville

2:08 PM EDT on April 4, 2014

We started with 16 parking craters and now we're down to the Final Four of Parking Madness.

After two bruising rounds of competition, four hideous parking expanses in Kansas City, Rochester, Chicago, and Jacksonville are still in it to win it. Each one is an ugly and awe-inspiring waste of potential in its own way.

Today's matchup for a shot at the championship pits Jacksonville against Chicago.

The contender from Florida is a riverfront travesty:

jacksonville1

Jacksonville has been a real force in this tournament, easily knocking off impressive entries from Calgary and Dallas. You can see there are a few very tall buildings in this area, but since it's been mercilessly carved up by highways, parking has become the land use of choice.

Meanwhile, the Chicago site is a different kind of crater.

chicago

The area around Chicago's United Center is the worst example in the 2014 bracket of how sports stadiums tend to go hand in hand with dead zones of dreadful asphalt. This parking expanse propelled Chicago past Denver and El Cerrito, California, in the first and second rounds.

The United Center parking crater is not that far from Chicago's Loop, meaning this is valuable real estate being put to really lousy use.

The winner of this contest will take on either Kansas City or Rochester for the coveted Golden Crater award, which combines eternal shame with the potential for some really good advocacy and awareness-building. Vote for your choice below.

parking_madness_2014_12

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Want a Better 15-Minute City? Ask Residents What They Really Want

A new study from Bogotá models how other cities can ask a deeper set of questions about how to put essential needs within walking, biking or transit distance.

March 19, 2024

Tuesday’s Headlines Win the Gold

Two articles detail efforts in Paris and Los Angeles to put on (relatively) climate-friendly Olympic games in 2024 and 2028.

March 19, 2024

Monday’s Headlines Drink Your Milkshake

How does a president end wasteful subsidies for the highly profitable fossil fuel industry? Many have tried, but none have succeeded, including Joe Biden.

March 18, 2024

How — and Why — To Start a Neighborhood E-Bike Library

American advocates are loaning out e-bikes to their neighbors — and creating flocks of new riders.

March 18, 2024

What Urbanists’ Doug Burgum Lovefest Reveals About the ‘Why’ Behind Our Advocacy

I am far less interested in talking about Gov. Doug Burgum's politics than talking about his values, and how those values shape his urbanism, and thus the actual lives of the people he governs.

March 15, 2024
See all posts