Surface Parking Lots

Downtown Des Moines, Iowa skyline.

Des Moines Plans to Repurpose Downtown Parking Lots

City officials want to encourage the redevelopment of underused surface parking lots.

February 7, 2024 - Axios

Empty Parking Lot

Depave Paradise: Reclaiming Parking Lots for Park Space

The promoters of a new park hope to provide a model for how replacing surface parking lots with green space can mitigate urban heat and boost urban biodiversity.

June 7, 2022 - Greater Greater Washington

Empty Parking

Parking Reform Map Shows Which Cities Have Eliminated Parking Minimums

As part of #BlackFridayParking week, a crowd-sourced map tracks the growth of the parking reform movement in U.S. cities.

November 23, 2021 - Strong Towns Blog

Antioch, California

BART TOD Bill Advances Despite Opposition from East Bay Cities

Amidst fierce opposition from East Bay cities who want to control the destiny of BART parking lots in their jurisdictions, Assembly Bill 2923, which would partially preempt local land use authority, passed a critical committee last Thursday.

August 20, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago Snow and Winter

Surface Parking Lots Making Way for Higher Uses

Are the urban revival and the future of mobility already rendering parking lots obsolete? Chicago provides a case study of a new generation of skyscrapers rising were cars once parked.

March 26, 2018 - Chicago Tribune

Detroit Sports Arena

Saying No to Surface Parking in Downtown Detroit

Multiple proposals to demolish downtown buildings and put up surface parking lots are meeting resistance.

February 8, 2018 - Detroit Free Press

Downtown Portland

Permeable Parking Surfaces and Parking Minimums

Rather than trying to make parking lots with expensive surfaces that cost to maintain, Portland should eliminate its parking minimums, according to this article.

September 1, 2017 - PDX Shoupistas

Retailer

Macy's Looking To Monetize Unused Parking Lots

Macy's sees opportunities to improve the shopping experience by activating empty parking lots.

July 8, 2017 - Modern Cities

Pickerington, Ohio

Retail Parking: A View from Google Earth

Google Earth can be a useful tool for understanding how parking is being used in your community and to identify where over- or under-utilization occurs.

February 16, 2016 - Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Parking Sign

Maryland Parking Lots Go Underground

For a long time, surface parking lots blanketed Maryland's Montgomery County. Developers and county officials now prioritize mixed-use infill with parking concealed underground.

July 7, 2015 - WAMU

Should a Parking Lot in D.C. Be Saved in the Name of Historic Preservation?

In the wealthy community of Spring Valley, just inside the western boundaries of the District of Columbia, residents are opposing a proposed development by claiming the site—a parking lot—is a historic landmark.

April 17, 2015 - Washington City Paper

Streetsblog 'Golden Crater' Goes to Camden, New Jersey for Waterfront Parking Abyss

Angie Schmitt announces the results of the 2015 "Parking Madness" tournament, which pits the country's worst examples of parking.

April 8, 2015 - Streetsblog USA

Coming Soon to Downtown Winnipeg: Surface Parking Lots?

What follows is a cautionary tale of how quickly downtown investment can go astray.

April 4, 2015 - Winnipeg Free Press

Denver Skyline

Denver Tries to Balance Loss of Parking with Downtown Vibrancy

At the edge of the Great Plains, Denver would seem to have plenty of room for everything, including parking. But a development boom in downtown Denver has reduced the number of parking lots, and the city is learning to evolve.

March 22, 2015 - The Denver Post

New Website Calls Out Philadelphia's 'Parking Wastelands'

It's unclear who exactly is behind the Philly Parking Wasteland website, but it is clear that the site exists to excoriate the mismanagement of land for the purposes of parking around the city of Philadelphia.

February 28, 2015 - Philly Parking Wasteland

Pitching a Pop-Up Beer Garden for the Giants' Waterfront Ballpark

The San Francisco Giants are proposing a clever scheme to activate the space in one of its ballpark adjacent parking lots. The Yard, as it's called, could be ready by Spring Training.

January 15, 2015 - San Francisco Chronicle

Strip Mall

Should Preservationists Leave Space for Parking Lots?

Here's one you probably didn't see coming. A recent pair of articles makes the case for preservationists to find ways to protect surface parking lots.

June 5, 2014 - Public History Commons

Parking Lot Tax Considered Among Portland’s Downtown Plans

A proposal to tax and eventually prohibit parking lots in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown is pitting two powerful figures in Portland’s downtown land use politics against each other.

April 10, 2014 - The Oregonian

Will ‘Worst Parking Crater’ Award Produce Policy Change?

Streetsblog doesn’t pull any punches with its “Golden Crater” award—an award for the worst parking crater in the country, selected by a March Madness style tournament. This year's winner/loser: Rochester, New York.

April 10, 2014 - Streetsblog USA

Will Montreal Parking Tax Promote Redevelopment or Relocation?

Montreal recently doubled a special tax assessed on non-residential downtown parking lots in the hopes of spurring residential development. But could the tax drive employers out to the suburbs?

January 29, 2013 - The Gazette (Montreal)

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