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 is a Cleveland-based writer with a background in planning and newspaper reporting. She has been writing about cities for Streetsblog for six years.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog USA
How to Fight a Freeway 101
A new guide gives advocates the basics to building a campaign against harmful infrastructure in their neighborhoods — and the best time to start is now.
November 9, 2026
The California DMV’s Culture of Obstruction
California’s DMV is responsible for managing some of the biggest risks on the state’s roads, but researchers say a culture of secrecy and obstruction makes it nearly impossible for the public to access basic information about dangerous drivers and disabled parking placard fraud.
November 6, 2026
Opinion: I (Almost) Killed a Pedestrian With My Car
Every driver has a story or two about a near-miss traffic crash, even when they were doing everything right. Can we get those numbers down with safer systems?
November 6, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Value of Cities
Cities are valuable precisely because there are so many people in them.
November 5, 2026