In bright reds and oranges, a map produced by Data Driven Detroit makes clear how much the city has suffered from decades of suburban flight. Nearly every block of downtown features substantial parking, including a stunning amount of surface lots.
Thanks to the fine folks at Streetsblog for pointing us to Data Driven Detroit's stark map, which appeared on the satirical Facebook page Michigan Needs More Parking. "It shows downtown Detroit with parking highlighted in orange and red: garages in orange, surface lots in red," explains Angie Schmitt.
“We must do something about all of these non-parking blocks holding back Detroit,” Michigan Needs More Parking writes in their caption to the map. "The city is getting ready to decide whether to allow the demolition of a historic bank to make way for, you guessed it, more downtown parking," adds Schmitt.
Sadly, thanks to suburban flight and auto-centric planning and design, many cities across the U.S. could likely produce a similar-looking map.
FULL STORY: Parking vs. Everything Else: An Aerial Map of Downtown Detroit
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