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Parking Madness 2016

Parking Madness: Send Us Pics of Parking Lots Where Your City Should Be

Past "Parking Madness" winners Tulsa (left), Rochester (center) and Camden (right).
Parking craters that won the whole thing (left to right): Tulsa, Rochester, and Camden.
Past "Parking Madness" winners Tulsa (left), Rochester (center) and Camden (right).

Does your city have what it takes to compete in Streetsblog's fourth annual Parking Madness tournament? Who will join Tulsa, Rochester, and Camden, NJ, as winners of the coveted "Golden Crater"?

We're looking for 16 parking scars blighting American downtowns. One will advance through our bracket to achieve lasting infamy -- and hopefully some hometown coverage that local advocates can put to good use. So send us your parking crater pics!

To nominate a parking crater, submit a photo or satellite image with a description of what makes it so dreadful. Other supporting evidence, like historical photos or maps showing the same area pre-crater, will increase your chances of making the field of 16. You can submit your nominee by commenting on this post or emailing angie [at] streetsblog [dot] org.

Craters that have competed in past brackets are not eligible. You may want to check the 2013, 2014, and 2015 tournaments to make sure your entry is kosher.

Even though previous parking crater contestants put together could probably fill a small northeastern state (no one would ever want to go there, but at least nobody would have trouble finding a place to park), we don't think we're approaching a shortage of worthy competitors. After three years of running the Parking Madness tournament, one conclusion we've reached is that America has a nearly limitless number of once-walkable places that have been devoured, over time, by surface parking lots.

Now's your chance to shame your city into doing better. Send us your entries by Friday, March 11.

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