Your 2016 Parking Madness Champion Is… Louisville!
Streetsblog readers spent the past three weeks voting in Parking Madness, the single elimination tournament where cities compete for the Golden Crater -- a symbol of the shameful amount of space we've allowed surface parking to consume in our communities. We started with a field of 16 and now we have a champion.
The winner of this year's Golden Crater is Louisville, which prevailed over Federal Way, Washington, in our final.
All this barren asphalt in the "SoBro" neighborhood near downtown carried Louisville to victory. Branden Klayko submitted the entry and urged readers of his blog Broken Sidewalk to put it over the top. He told us he hopes the "disreputable honor" will draw attention from city leaders:
In the SoBro neighborhood, directly adjacent to the Central Business District, large swaths have been leveled and forgotten as the area is overshadowed by the much more glamorous lights and architecture of Downtown Louisville. As people begin to realize just how much space there is to fill, SoBro's potential will hopefully shine through. The hard part is actually filling it. Among the challenges of a parking crater like this is that flat land requires new construction, which is often quite expensive. Had the older urban fabric remained -- even in an abandoned state -- it would have been much easier to revitalize this area into a real neighborhood.
Cities can take action to arrest or reverse the growth of parking craters. When developers in Denver were demolishing buildings and replacing them with surface parking, the city banned the practice. And in cities that need to provide better incentives for developers to build on parking lots, the elimination of parking requirements is a good place to start. Louisville has parking requirements for every part of the city outside of the central business district.
Whatever strategy makes sense for this location, we're rooting for Louisville to turn its parking crater around. Until then, to guard against complacency, we present the Golden Crater.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog USA
Distracted Off-Duty Cop Jumped Curb and Killed Chicago Woman On Sidewalk
It's infuriating that a person who was entrusted to help keep the public safe was reckless enough to take her eyes off the road while driving to pick up a phone, with tragic consequences.
Friday’s Headlines Include Transit
An International Association of Public Transport study found that many countries are neglecting transit in their plans to combat climate change.
Calif. Using“Auxiliary Lane” Freeway Widening Loophole for Non-Aux Lane Projects
Beyond just using harmful loopholes legally, Metro and Caltrans deceptively bypass environmental regulations in order to keep on widening freeways.
Talking Headways Podcast: Sausage Making and the ADA
"It is fundamentally inappropriate to keep charging disabled people twice as much," our guest Ron Brooks says.
The Real Reason Assaults Against Transit Workers Are On The Rise
Hint: it's not just because service has been slashed.
