Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

If there's one thing to take away from Parking Madness, it's that surface parking disasters have struck cities great and small, victimizing boomtowns and economically struggling places alike. Nowhere is immune.

Yesterday the parking lots around the Cotton Bowl propelled Dallas over the downtown Duluth waterfront. Today we have a David vs. Goliath pairing with Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, taking on New York City.

Wilkes-Barre

Screen Shot 2016-03-09 at 4.21.57 PM

Reader Brian Ferry nominated these pockmarked blocks near downtown and the city's riverfront. "It's no coincidence that several buildings in this area are now abandoned," he says.

Those abandoned buildings include the Irem Temple (the light roof in the bottom center), a gorgeous historic building that was originally a meeting place for the Shriners fraternal organization; the Spring Brook Water Company across the parking lot to the left of the temple; and the Hotel Sterling Annex in the top left.

Well, at least locals can't blame the vacancy issue on a lack of parking. Just kidding, people can blame anything on "the lack of parking," even if parking is devouring downtown.

New York City

Screen Shot 2016-03-10 at 3.38.31 PM

The Bay Plaza Shopping Center is sandwiched between two highways in the northeast Bronx, south of Co-op City, the enormous 1960s-era housing complex. Our anonymous submitter puts this crater in "the 'places near NYC that should really know better' category."

New York really should know better, but just a short distance from this site, another parking crater is in the works next to a new commuter rail station.

Pick your poison, readers.

parking_madness_2016

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Remain Incomplete

Cities and states aren't devoting enough funding to Complete Streets to put much of a dent in the problem.

November 8, 2024

Friday Video: Would Our Cities Be Better Off Without Public Hearings?

Is the way America does public hearings making our cities more democratic, or obstructing the kinds of human-centered projects we need most?

November 8, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: Thinking Bigger About Regional Economic Development

Waymaker Group CEO Julie Huls on economic development strategies for mid-sized cities, the impacts of the pandemic on regional thinking, and what a future of mega-regions means for cities trying to attract talent.

November 7, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines, Election Results Edition

Election Night brought bad news for federal climate policy, but mostly good news for local transit and environmental initiatives.

November 7, 2024

N.Y. Gov Twiddles Thumbs on ‘Unpausing’ First-in-Nation Congestion Pricing Before Trump Takes Office

New York Gov. Hochul is showing no urgency to "un-pause" congestion pricing before Donald Trump takes charge of the federal government.

November 7, 2024
See all posts