Parking Madness 2019: Which urban transformation will take home the trophy?

2019-03-25T18:19:00-04:00

This year’s parking crater tournament has us feeling something past contests never did: Hopeful. We asked readers for the best examples of surface parking lots turned dynamic urban places around the country. We got a great response, with some really exciting transformations. We had to eliminate a few contestants to whittle it down to the Sweet 16.

If you've enjoyed the America’s Sorriest Bus Stop contest, organized annually by Streetsblog, and are looking for an alternative 'Madness'-themed tournament this March, then this is for you: Parking Madness 2019 kicked off just a few days ago and pits 16 successful surface parking lot transformations in the U.S. and Canada against each other.

Image via Streetsblog USA

Fill in your brackets now with these hopeful contenders:

Kansas City
Minneapolis
Oakland
Atlanta
Houston
Boston
Pittsburgh
Portland
Providence
Austin
D.C. Pike
D.C. NoMa
Indianapolis
Toronto
Albuquerque
Tampa

Minneapolis' Downtown East development already crushed the Kansas City Power & Light District transformation in the first round, and Oakland's MacArthur BART Station is in the ring against Atlanta's Candler Park MARTA Station right now.

Which city is your bet to take home the coveted 'Most Improved Crater' award?

Competition for America's Sorriest Bus Stop highlights America's very sorry public transit system

2017-08-29T17:19:00-04:00

For the past few years, the site Streetsblog has been shedding light on some of America's most dreadful public transit systems with their competition for the "Sorriest Bus Stop in America." The tournament takes user submissions for uncomfortable, inaccessible, and sometimes, outright dangerous bus stops and pits them against one another for a good, and necessary, public shaming.

Bus stop in San Juan nestled between two yellow concrete bollards. Image via Google Street View.

So far, in this years tournament a precariously balanced Pittsburgh bus stop located on the side of a four-lane highway beat out a Medford stop that lacks a sidewalk and pedestrian access. A pair of stops on the side of a state highway in Chapel Hill that require crossing the highway or going on a 1/2 mile roundabout to reach won against another shelterless stop in San Juan that is nestled between parked cars and marked by two yellow concrete bollards. Two Southern California stops, one in San Diego that requires ...

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Parking Madness 2019: Which urban transformation will take home the trophy?

Competition for America's Sorriest Bus Stop highlights America's very sorry public transit system