About the Project

My photo
Portland, OR, United States
We are embarking on a project to document historical downtowns in America before they crumble. Many downtowns in former industrial towns and cities, such as Detroit, St. Louis, and Camden, NJ used to be booming industrial towns. Now storefronts stand abandoned and rotting, no one walks around and there are few cultural activities. We plan on photodocumenting large and small declining cities and towns alike, mostly in the Rust Belt and Texas. We are also interested in finding solutions that revitalize and restore these crumbling downtowns.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Home, Sweet Parking Lot

In most rust belt cities, declining urban population and disinvestment has led to an abundance of derelict and abandoned buildings. In an effort to remain relevant, many of these cities have moved toward the suburbanization of the city core, that is, increasing the amount of parking available in hopes of attracting traffic to the city center in support of the remaining businesses.

Thus far in this blog, I have focused on small cities, but I think it's also important to explore larger cities, and the trends taking place. I realize that there are complex economic forces at play here, and I will not attempt, at this time, to offer a lesson in urban design. But some cities are taking steps to find alternatives to surface parking. This includes stacked parking, public transit, and underground parking. Here are some examples of Google Earth images of the most parking-concentrated urban cores:

Little Rock, Arkansas

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Columbus, Ohio - 1994

Columbus, Ohio - Present

Kansas City, Missouri - 1991

Kansas City, Missouri - Present

 Detroit, Michigan
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