Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

We're approaching the end of the first round of Parking Madness, and boy, have we seen some catastrophic damage. After today, there are two more parking craters to reveal in this year's bracket.

In our last matchup, parking-cratered downtown Wilkes-Barre bested shopping mall parking lots in the northeast Bronx. Today, a coastal California parking crater goes up against a crater in the heartland.

Long Beach

long_beach_crater

Here's a sad waterfront parking crater right next the Pacific Ocean. It comes from our friends at Longbeachize. They write that it's "mostly used to host the Grand Prix once a year. What can the other 11.5 months of the year be used for?"

Muncie

Earth_North_Photoshop

The parking lots of downtown Muncie, Indiana, have been conveniently outlined in red by reader Zane Bishop. He writes:

The real tragedy here lies less in the size of individual craters and more so in the overall number and density of parking lots. By my estimate, Downtown Muncie is almost 50% parking. Better yet, nearly all of this parking is reserved for offices, meaning it is only being used 25% of the hours of the year. These lots replaced many historic buildings, which were torn down due to neglect and abandonment after development shifted toward suburban areas.

A sad story, and all too common.

[poll id="109"]

parking_madness_2016

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The Utopia of London’s Low-Traffic Neighborhoods

Streetsfilms follows an urban planner around the “low-traffic neighborhood” of St. Peter’s in the London borough of Islington.

November 7, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Got Lucky

Crash data doesn't nearly capture the near misses cyclists have to endure.

November 7, 2025

San Diego Is Latest California City to Welcome Waymo

The Alphabet-owned company announced plans to begin mapping city streets and launching limited operations sometime next year — but whether that move will help advance San Diego’s safety and climate goals remains to be seen.

November 6, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Why Are We Going Backwards?

A very special discussion about why America keeps building highways, how President Trump is targeting transit and how we can all get a better federal transportation bill if we want it.

November 6, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Won Big

It was a good day for transit on Election Day Tuesday.

November 6, 2025

Transit Wins Big Again In Local Elections Across America

Several candidates who ran on ambitious transportation reform platforms won at the ballot box on Tuesday — but even more communities said yes to supporting transit directly.

November 6, 2025
See all posts