Streetsblog USA's annual showcase of the worst examples of car-oriented land use this year focused on places that had overcome the worst excesses of 20th century planning.
Angie Schmitt shares the results of the Parking Madness 2019 competition on Streetsblog USA, and Providence has won the "Golden Crater" award "for its decades-long effort to reclaim its public spaces from cars."
Astute observers will recall that Schmitt announced the Parking Madness 2019 with a crucial twist: instead of shaming cities with parking craters like in previous years, this year's Parking Madness would celebrate the best examples of former parking lots that have been transformed into places far more attractive, human, and healthy.
"Many cities made a strong claim to the crown, but Providence’s Capitol Hill area had the best story," according to Schmitt. "Back in the mid part of the last century, the Rhode Island Statehouse area was surround by an absolute moat of grey, lifeless asphalt." Now the area includes 'over one million square feet of retail space, 2 to 2.5 million square feet of office space, 1,000 hotel rooms, 500 residential units, 10,000 permanent jobs,' according to an expert cited in the article.
Read the full story: Your Parking Madness 2019 Champion: Providence
And the Parking Crater Award Goes To…
One of the biggest days of the year on the urbanism calendar took place on April 20. No, not marijuana day—the awarding of the Golden Crater award to the winner of Streetsblog's annual Parking Madness competition.
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.
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic Place Names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
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Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority