Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Parking Madness 2016

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

3:11 PM EST on March 7, 2016

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.

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