There may be no greater indication of car dependency in the United States than the sheer number of massive parking craters that litter our cities, creating dead zones for urban activity and motor-vehicle choked streets. Bulk private vehicle storage in all its forms is fundamentally anti-urbanist, but space-hogging surface parking is probably the worst. In this video we survey the largest parking lots in the US, discuss why they exist in the places they do, and talk about the kind of planning and analysis that leads to them getting built.
Join your intrepid host in a nationwide search for mammoth examples of some of the most wasteful land uses ever devised – we check the usual suspects: airports, manufacturing facilities, large sports venues, theme parks, and casinos. Play along and see if you can guess what shows up in the top ten. But prepare to be surprised!
Other CityNerd videos referenced in this video:
- Top 10 Transit to NFL Stadiums: https://youtu.be/iclUbbnWzog
- Top 10 Ginormous Interchanges: https://youtu.be/4rgH0MUaHx8
Other Resources:
- Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation and Parking Generation Resources: https://www.ite.org/technical-resources/topics/trip-and-parking-generation/
- "The Ugly, Violent Clearing Of Chavez Ravine Before It Was Home To The Dodgers" by Elina Shatkin for LAist: https://laist.com/news/la-history/dodger-stadium-chavez-ravine-battle
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
- NASCAR tracks (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NASCAR_tracks#NASCAR_National_series_race_tracks
- The Astrodome (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrodome#Astrodome_Revitalization_Project
- NFL Stadiums (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_National_Football_League_stadiums
- Largest Shopping Malls (Wikipedia):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_shopping_malls_in_the_United_States
- American Football Stadiums (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_football_stadiums_by_capacity
- 2016 Battle at Bristol (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_at_Bristol
- ESPN 2016 Battle at Bristol game page: https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/400868989
Photo/Video Credits:
- 2016_Pilot_Flying_J_Battle_at_Bristol By UserB - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66981556
- Jackie Robinson Image by Welcome to all and thank you for your visit ! ツ from Pixabay
Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)
Twitter: @nerd4cities
Instagram: @nerd4cities
Contact: nerd4cities@gmail.com
urbanismurbanistparking lots
