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

Get Your Camera Ready for Empty #BlackFridayParking Lots

2:09 PM EST on November 25, 2015

If you're out shopping on Black Friday, keep your cell phone camera close at hand. Strong Towns is continuing its annual tradition of #BlackFridayParking -- capturing photos of half-empty parking lots on America's high holy day for retail.

The exercise illustrates how ridiculous and wasteful our parking policies are. Many communities require retailers to construct and maintain parking lots large enough to house every shopper on the busiest shopping day of the year. And then even on a day like Black Friday (technically the second-busiest day of the year), many spaces remain unfilled.

Imagine if this space could be repurposed for something more productive.

Angie Schmitt

Angie Schmitt is the author of Right of Way: Race, Class and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America, and the former editor of Streetsblog USA.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Promoted ArchivesIssues & Campaigns

In NYC, Unlicensed Drivers Comprise One-Quarter Of Street Fatalities: Data

Unlicensed drivers are linked to fatal crashes much more often now than pre-pandemic

January 13, 2026
Today's Headlines

Tuesday’s Headlines Need Exercise

Every hour in a car increases the risk of obesity by 6 percent, while walking a kilometer lowers it 5 percent.

January 13, 2026
Bicycling

Opinion: Stop Asking If People Want to Ride Bikes

"We shouldn’t be aiming to nudge a few percentage points in public opinion. Our goal should be to make freedom of mobility so compelling that people demand it."

January 13, 2026
Opinion

When the Government Says You’re ‘Weaponizing’ Your Car

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers have been brutalizing and killing people who they perceive as threats. Is mass automobility multiplying their pretext to do it?

January 12, 2026
Streetsblog

Should Monday’s Headlines Carry a Carrot or a Stick?

Human beings generally don't like being forced to do anything, so Grist wonders whether policies like car bans could actually be counterproductive?

January 12, 2026
Streetsblog ChicagoTransit Equity

Chicago Explores Black Perspectives on Public Transit

"We're not going to fix decades of inequitable investment in one year, and things like the high-frequency bus network and the Red Line Extension are really important, but the work isn't done."

January 9, 2026
See all posts