Downtown Denver in the 1970s vs. today. Before photo: Nick DeWolf via Flickr

It’s March, so that means it’s time for our annual March Madness-style tournament comparing some of the most disappointing missed opportunities in urban environments: surface parking lots, or, as we like to call them: parking craters.

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PARKING MADNESS 2019: Fill In Your Bracket Today

This year’s parking crater tournament has us feeling something past contests never did: Hopeful.

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Parking Madness 2019 Round 1: Houston vs. Boston

We’re getting into some of the heavy hitters today in Parking Madness, our annual tournament examining the damage done to city landscapes by surface parking lots. This year’s tournament, however, flips the script, attempting to find the “parking crater” that has been most transformed into a beloved city space.

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I wish I knew any of these areas better to have better opinions on them.

Surface parking lots are a scourge.

As are parking minimums for new construction in general.

 

South Boston waterfront. Historically home to rail yards and industry, this filled land on Boston Harbor has been transformed in recent years from an ocean of surface parking to a dense, mixed-use neighborhood. It has been very interesting to watch its build out. Cultural and civic buildings--an art museum, convention center, and federal courthouse--came before most of the new office buildings, residential blocks, and hotels. My hope is that the result is a real neighborhood with cultural and civic life.

 

This looks like an awesome area! What makes it for me is all the things mentioned, but also how connected is it to public transportation. The area has to be connected to the subway system. Looks like that's the case above.

 

I would love to see construction of no parking minimums! Basically new tenets have some kind of benefits if they don't have a car, or one car per family with some cost in bringing a car into the environment. Nowadays it's a lot easier to achieve this. Cars can be rented easily for long trips where needed.

 

Parking Madness 2019 Round 1: Portland vs. Pittsburgh

We’re continuing with our hunt for Most Improved Parking Crater today, slowly but surely narrowing down a list of 16 candidates to find the urban parking lot that has become a beloved cityscape rather than a cement crater filled with cars.

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Those both seem excellent uses of former parking spaces.

 

Looks like Pittsburg won on that one.

Been slipping on these posts and I apologize for that.

 

Parking Madness 2019, Round 2: Houston vs. Pittsburgh

Elite Eight action continues here today at Parking Madness, Streetsblog’s search for the Most Improved Parking Crater in America(™). Things are really starting to get interesting.

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Parking Madness Final Four: Providence vs. Toronto

The second Final Four match in our annual Parking Madness tournament is here — so we’re on step closer to identifying the “Most Improved Parking Crater in (North) America.” Yes, things are getting interesting.

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Parking Madness 2019 Final: Pittsburgh vs. Providence

This is it: The final match of Parking Madness 2019.

Out of a field of 16 remarkable city spaces that used to be parking lots, just two cities remain standing.

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Your Parking Madness 2019 Champion: