Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In

We're two weeks into our Parking Madness competition, and only a few parking craters are still standing.

Today's Elite Eight matchup pairs a Bay Area suburb with America's third largest city: It's El Cerrito, California vs. Chicago.

First up is El Cerrito, which was singled out for shame by one of our readers because of this crater's proximity to a BART station providing quick access to San Francisco.

bart1
false

The submitter pointed out that almost every BART station looks something like this, so in a sense the El Cerrito parking crater is standing in for the failure of an entire region to produce walkable development near transit.

Meanwhile, the Chicago crater suffers from sports venue syndrome:

chicago
false

We've seen this pretty consistently throughout the competition: In St. Louis, Grand Rapids, and Chicago, the spaces around public arenas are ghost towns inhabited only by cars.

This area, readers tell us, is especially disappointing because it has good transit access and is less than two miles away from the Loop. What a far cry from the walkability of Wrigleyville.

Tell us which crater you think deserves to reach the Final Four of Parking Madness.

parking_madness_2014_10
false

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Not So Fast! We Rode NYC Ferry with Would-Be Council Speaker Amanda Farías

Council Member Julie Menin claims she has the votes to be the next Speaker, but Bronx Council Member Amanda Farías has shown a lot more interest in livable streets issues.

November 28, 2025

Book Excerpt Special: Jonathan Lethem’s ‘Program’s Progress’

Class struggle. Infirm secondary superheroes. Suicidal sheep. It’s all in Jonathan Lethem's new collection of short stories, "A Different Kind of Tension." Here's one — featuring class struggle with cars!

November 28, 2025

Special Post-Thanksgiving Friday Video: The Positive Economics of Bike Lanes

Some yahoo in Montreal said that whatever bike lanes cost, they're too expensive! Well, no they're not.

November 28, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Curbside Slide Edition

Good-bye, streeteries, we hardly knew ye. Plus other news.

November 28, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Giving Thanks(ish) Edition

Yes, let's give thanks. But let us also not forget why we're so lucky. Plus other news for your holiday day off.

November 27, 2025

‘Gold Standard’ Open Street Has Two Paths Forward To Become True ‘Paseo Park’

The DOT is contemplating two options for the 1.3 mile-long linear park in Jackson Heights. Which would you choose?

November 26, 2025
See all posts