10 Cities That Destroy Their Downtowns With Parking

It's sometimes said, you can have a place with cheap, ubiquitous parking, or you can have a place that's worth going, but you can't have both. (OK, maybe I'm the one who says it.) So for today's video I teamed with the Parking Reform Network to presented the all new, revamped parking maps for US cities. Which cities do it best and which do it worst? Watch and find out.

Want to join an advocacy group that is TRULY making a difference in the urbanism space? The Parking Reform Network has been doing incredible work for years, and your individual contribution goes a long way. This is an unpaid endorsement!

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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:

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Resources:

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Images
- Massive thanks to the Parking Reform Network for use of maps and photos!

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[CityNerd]

Before you read the comments (which you may regret...just saying):

[sirisaacnewton]

As a Puerto Rican channels like these and not just bikes have opened my eyes to the sheer lunacy of organizing society around the movement of giant metal boxes. Especially in an island with high population density, median household income of like 20k and a ~45% of people living in poverty.

[plattypus]

Hello from a former member of the Parking Commission in Riverside! Every single meeting I went to, we had somebody complaining there wasn't enough parking downtown. Every. Meeting. I'm proud to say that I helped to arrange an inventory of lot space and typical usage, which we used to respond to folks who demanded the construction of more parking. If I recall correctly, the fullest any of the three city-owned garages got was about half full.

It's still understandable that politicians produce this kind of policy when that's all they hear though. Just a reminder to show up at your local government meetings!

[dylantwists]

Tulsa's downtown is over 60% surface parking. Walking downtown feels like walking through a nuclear wasteland

[dylanryall]

My dad grew up in San Bernardino. He was old enough to remember when you could take streetcars from there to the beach in LA.

[chicagoakland]

I'm just thankful you recognize Oakland as the core city it is instead of just San Francisco's quirky brother.

[jzb]

Kudos to classifying parking as “storing personal property.” I intend to use that from now on.

[southpond]

While I'm not surprised that my hometown of Philly was in the top 10 cities with the lowest percentage of off street parking, it's worth noting that due to the residential building boom that has been going on in Center City and nearby areas for quite some time now (and barely experienced a hiccup during the pandemic) the remaining surface lots are quickly disappearing, as they are replaced by mid and high rise apartment/condo buildings. In the last 20 years, it's amazing how many surface lots have disappeared and happily the trend continues.

[angellacanfora]

I pick on my hometown LA suburb of Torrance a lot here, but one thing they seem to be doing right these days is parking lot conversion. There are a number of plans to convert sprawling parking lots into more functional spaces. Will be interesting to see how that alters the character of the area. Now if they could just do more about their homeless population and public transportation problems (buses run once an hour!!!), I'd be really excited.

[ackermanjl]

Former DC/Chicago resident now in St Pete. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the Tampa Bay area, it’s been an adjustment for sure

[scottlarson]

One historic thing I wonder about is how many cities thought it would be a great idea to have their new interstate highways go straight through their downtowns. Highway 99 did that through lots of towns sending a pair of two lane stroads right where people had been crossing for decades. I bet the sound of 18 wheelers rumbling through downtown did a lot for business.

[fabes]

Instantly a top 10 CityNerd sarcastic segment with Virginia Beach.

[jakenoble]

I live in Capitol Hill in Denver and there’s a banking complex near me that has like two blocks worth of parking. On an extremely busy day the lots are maybe 40% full. Can’t help but think of how nice it would be if they were turned into green space or social housing

[neckenwiler]

As an Oaklander, I am genuinely shocked it made this list. I'm used to NYC and DC, and downtown here feels like it's completely hollowed out by parking.

[levyk]

I'm from the Houston area and the first time I went to Ft Worth, i literally was shocked on the amount of parking available

[duncanhanna]

As a Virginia Beach resident there is so much parking, however, most people don’t even live in the Oceanfront, the area that you showed. The city is essentially a county in the way that its all suburbs and the “downtown” is likely the Town Center area, not Oceanfront. Someone else said this but Norfolk is more of a city.

[PalmelaHanderson]

One thing to note on why a lot of cities still have flat surface parking lots on extremely valuable land: The people who own the land make a ton of money on them for basically nothing. Fun fact: a big reason why Frankie Muniz basically stopped acting after he grew up was because his financial advisor got him to buy a bunch of parking lots in downtown LA when he was like 18. So yeah, while it seems absurd to have downtown space dedicated for personal storage, to the people who own that land, parking lots are money printing machines. Sure, you would make more money by turning it into apartments, but apartment buildings require at least a modicum of work.

[joshg]

This is why public transportation is necessary in all major cities around the US and around the world

[t.a.k.palfrey]

Just for use as a benchmark for comparison, the percentage of London's area dedicated to parking cars (incl on-street dedicated parking spaces) is 2.4 percent of the city's area.

[Jonsolski]

While KC has work to do, we are making positive strives! Our streetcar line is being expanded 3 miles to the south of downtown and should be open sometime next year. There is also a transit study in the works about adding a second streetcar line through midtown KC (probably several years away from being built though.) Amtrak also announced their desire to extend the Missouri River-runner route to st Joesph, Missouri, which would give the north side of the metro passenger rail service for the first time in decades!

Overall, there are several large high-impact projects underway in KC that will really improve the city over the next decade. Im excited to call KC home!