Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

We're on to our second round one match in this year's Parking Madness competition — comparing different cities that have repaired their parking craters with useful infill development: more city!

This competition highlights a really hopeful trend underway in cities; Parking craters all over the country are disappearing. In our first matchup, Minneapolis knocked off a formidable contender in Kansas City by a decisive 64 percent to 36 percent final score.

parking madness oak-atl

Today's matchup features two former parking craters next to transit stations in Atlanta and Oakland.

Atlanta

The photos below show the Candler Park MARTA Station on the east side of Atlanta.

atlanta before crater
Atlanta after crater

It was submitted to the competition by reader Carl Holt, who writes:

Atlanta's transit system built a lot of Park and Ride stations in its historic, streetcar suburbs. Edgewood/Candler Park was part of the first stations to open in 1979, it is located three miles outside of Downtown Atlanta. MARTA's Edgewood/Candler Park was the first transit-oriented development built on existing surface park-and-ride lot. It meets MARTA's goal of affordable units, has a small buried parking garage. Phase II includes a public greenspace and commercial space.

Atlanta's transit agency, MARTA, deserves credit for taking the lead in redeveloping parking lots by its rail stations, and trying to include affordability. These developments produce more housing options for Atlantans in walkable areas and help boost ridership by expanding the population living near transit.

Here's a great roundup from Curbed of all the projects MARTA has helped developed.

Oakland

Next up, we're looking at the MacArthur BART Station in Oakland California. This submission comes from reader Adriana Valencia, who notes, as you'll see, that it's still under construction.

Oakland before
oakland bart after

Valencia writes:

Still in-progress. But impressive transformation nevertheless! The BRIDGE housing component is already done, a parking structure is done (it's what they did first.) Parcels C and D are either open or about to (maccommons.com) and the Parcel B tower is on its fifth or sixth story of a 20+-story tower.

This is the plan for the BART MacArthur Station, currently under construction, in Oakland. Plan:
This is the plan for the BART MacArthur Station, currently under construction, in Oakland. Plan: MacArthur Station
This is the plan for the BART MacArthur Station, currently under construction, in Oakland. Plan:

One really nice feature of both of these projects is that they include some affordable housing. Transit-oriented development that includes affordable housing is really important if transit agencies are trying to boost ridership, because lower-income people rely on transit much more than higher-income.

Which deserves to go on to the second round? (And stay tuned for our next first-round battle, Houston vs. Boston, later in the week.)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Thursday’s Headlines Are Charged Up for the Fourth

The Republican megabill is bad for the electric vehicle industry, but it could be worse.

July 3, 2025

Why is the Secretary of Transportation Begging Americans to Take More Road Trips?

Instead of making America easier to see on all modes, the US Department of Transportation is encouraging U.S. residents to just get in their cars and drive.

July 3, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

From mothers with babies in strollers to preteens on bikes, much of the U.S. is hostile to families just trying to get around without a car.

July 2, 2025

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

"Overall, residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are about four times more likely than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods to be struck as a pedestrian."

July 1, 2025
See all posts