#BlackFridayParking Exposes that Empty Feeling

In the most recent iteration of the annual event, social media users around the country submitted images of empty parking lots in front of retail centers on the busiest shopping day of the year.

1 minute read

December 2, 2014, 8:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Charles Marohn once again spearheaded a crowdsourcing exercise known as #blackfridayparking, asking readers to take pictures of underutilized parking lots on the nation's most hallowed shopping day of the year. Marohn's #blackfridayparking

post includes a map of the crowdsourced images and access to the discussion on Twitter.

Writing for Streetsblog, Angie Schmitt also broadcast news of #blackfridayparking, explaining the need for the public shaming of parking lots: "If there’s one thing American planners fear, it’s that someone, sometime, somewhere, won’t be able to immediately find a parking space. Gigantic manuals have been devoted to avoiding this “problem,” and laws have been passed in nearly every community in the nation to ensure that no one ever lacks for parking."

Marohn also held a #blackfridayparking event in 2013, noting at the time that all cities need to do to correct the problem of overabundant parking is to repeal parking minimums.

Friday, November 28, 2014 in Strong Towns

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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