Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

The Spectacular Waste of Half-Empty Black Friday Parking Lots

12:47 PM PST on December 1, 2014

Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 11.22.23 AM
A retail parking lot in Palm Beach, Florida, on the busiest shopping day of the year. Photo: @aGuyonClematus

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.

Chuck Marohn at Strong Towns started an ingenious, crowd-sourced photo collection to show how absurd the obsession with parking construction has become: pictures of retail parking lots on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. We've built so much parking that a lot of spaces remain unused even when demand is at its peak.

For the last two years, Marohn has urged people to take photos of half-empty Black Friday parking lots and tag them on Twitter with the hashtag #blackfridayparking. Here's what they turned up last week.

Marohn himself snapped this Target parking lot (presumably somewhere near his hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota), which at 75 percent occupancy, was actually more full than most the other lots he photographed.

Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 11.24.45 AM

This is a Kohl's in Conroe, Texas, at 10:45 a.m. on Black Friday, captured by Erika Ragsdale:

Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 11.45.24 AM

Peoria, Illinois, resident Erik Reader snapped this shot of the Big R western clothing store:

Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 11.47.31 AM

Reader also captured this majestic asphalt expanse at a Big K Mart in the same region.

Screen Shot 2014-12-01 at 11.49.38 AM

At 3:15 in the afternoon, this Target parking lot in suburban Pittsburgh was less than half full, reports Bob Gradeck:

Did any of you make it out to the stores on Friday? Did any of you have trouble finding a parking space? Did anyone in America have this problem?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Caltrans Announces $300 Million “Super 605” Freeway Enhancement Project

The Super 605 project does not appear to expand or widen the freeway itself, but focuses on maintaining/rehabilitating the existing roadway.

October 4, 2023

Celebrate Los Angeles Walks Turning Twenty-Five!

Celebrate at Los Angeles Walks Sidewalk Soirée next week. Also the organization is hiring a new Executive Director - apply today.

October 3, 2023

No Cops with Lassos on Trains. Mayor Nixes LAPD Pilot at Metro Board Meeting.

LAPD got approval from the Police Commission to extend their BolaWrap pilot on Metro in August, but hadn't advised Metro of their plans until after the fact.

October 3, 2023
See all posts