Surface Parking Lots: A Downtown Vibrancy Killer
According to Downtown Vision (DVI), more than 50% of downtown Jacksonville's streetscape consists of 'dead space' - either parking lots, garages, vacant buildings, or buildings less than 25% occupied. This collection of aerials visually highlight the impact dead spaces (surface parking and underutilized vacant property) in downtown Jacksonville and a number of cities across North America have. Naturally, those with the least amount of surface lots tend to be the most vibrant pedestrian-scale environments.
Jacksonville, FL
Red = surface parking or vacant property with no building on site.
Austin, TX
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Boston, MA
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Chicago, IL
courtesy of emathias at www.skyscraperpage.com.
Cleveland, OH
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Dallas, TX
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Denver, CO
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Houston, TX
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Little Rock, AR
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Lower Manhattan
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com.
Midtown Manhattan
courtesy of Cirrus at www.skyscraperpage.com. Red = surface parking, Yellow = bus surface parking.
Oklahoma City, OK
courtesy of shane453 at www.skyscraperpage.com. Red = surface parking, Green = vacant lots/brownfields.
Philadelphia, PA
courtesy of Cirrus at www.skyscraperpage.com
Pittsburgh, PA
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com
Portland, OR
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
San Diego, CA
courtesy of eburress at www.skyscraperpage.com
San Francisco, CA
courtesy of mthd at www.skyscraperpage.com
Toronto
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com
Tulsa, OK
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Vancouver, BC
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com
Washington, DC
courtesy of Cirrus at www.skyscraperpage.com. Red = private lot, Purple = public lot, Orange = redevelopment sites, Yellow = NoMa redevelopment area.
Original peer city maps can be found at: https://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=191539
Impact of Surface Parking On Downtown Vibrancy
Excessive surface parking downtown is deadly. Almost all downtowns provide too much surface parking, thinking that such parking is essential for the survival of downtown. Yet ironically, a significant impediment to the competitive leverage that downtown needs if it is to compete with suburban retail and office clusters, is excessive surface parking. That leverage is compact walkability, and surface parking seriously degrades that objective.
The loss of compact walkability degrades the health of downtown transit, because healthy transit depends on compact walkability. The downtown residential lifestyle also requires high-quality, compact walkability. Downtown economic health is much stronger when compact walkability is established. Excessive surface parking deadens a downtown, detracts from downtown appearance, character and ambiance, and significantly reduces downtown vibrancy. Place-making is nearly impossible when surface parking becomes prominent.
https://www.walkablestreets.com/downpark2.htm
Jacksonville graphic by Ennis Davis.
Red = surface parking or vacant property with no building on site.
Austin, TX
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Boston, MA
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Chicago, IL
courtesy of emathias at www.skyscraperpage.com.
Cleveland, OH
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Dallas, TX
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Denver, CO
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Houston, TX
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Little Rock, AR
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Lower Manhattan
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com.
Midtown Manhattan
courtesy of Cirrus at www.skyscraperpage.com. Red = surface parking, Yellow = bus surface parking.
Oklahoma City, OK
courtesy of shane453 at www.skyscraperpage.com. Red = surface parking, Green = vacant lots/brownfields.
Philadelphia, PA
courtesy of Cirrus at www.skyscraperpage.com
Pittsburgh, PA
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com
Portland, OR
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
San Diego, CA
courtesy of eburress at www.skyscraperpage.com
San Francisco, CA
courtesy of mthd at www.skyscraperpage.com
Toronto
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com
Tulsa, OK
courtesy of photolitherland at www.skyscraperpage.com
Vancouver, BC
courtesy of MonkeyRonin at www.skyscraperpage.com
Washington, DC
courtesy of Cirrus at www.skyscraperpage.com. Red = private lot, Purple = public lot, Orange = redevelopment sites, Yellow = NoMa redevelopment area.
Original peer city maps can be found at: https://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=191539
Impact of Surface Parking On Downtown Vibrancy
Excessive surface parking downtown is deadly. Almost all downtowns provide too much surface parking, thinking that such parking is essential for the survival of downtown. Yet ironically, a significant impediment to the competitive leverage that downtown needs if it is to compete with suburban retail and office clusters, is excessive surface parking. That leverage is compact walkability, and surface parking seriously degrades that objective.
The loss of compact walkability degrades the health of downtown transit, because healthy transit depends on compact walkability. The downtown residential lifestyle also requires high-quality, compact walkability. Downtown economic health is much stronger when compact walkability is established. Excessive surface parking deadens a downtown, detracts from downtown appearance, character and ambiance, and significantly reduces downtown vibrancy. Place-making is nearly impossible when surface parking becomes prominent.
https://www.walkablestreets.com/downpark2.htm
Jacksonville graphic by Ennis Davis.