Get Your Camera Ready for Empty #BlackFridayParking Lots

By Angie Schmitt

12:00 PM CST on November 25, 2015

#blackfridayparking Stillwater, OK earlier this morning. I know: college town, morning, etc. but still… pic.twitter.com/VkgAK709Ar
— Shawn Strate (@stratetoyou) November 28, 2014

If you’re out shopping on Black Friday, keep your cell phone camera close at hand. Strong Towns is continuing its annual tradition of #BlackFridayParking — capturing photos of half-empty parking lots on America’s high holy day for retail.

The exercise illustrates how ridiculous and wasteful our parking policies are. Many communities require retailers to construct and maintain parking lots large enough to house every shopper on the busiest shopping day of the year. And then even on a day like Black Friday (technically the second-busiest day of the year), many spaces remain unfilled.

Imagine if this space could be repurposed for something more productive.

Angie Schmitt

Angie is a Cleveland-based writer with a background in planning and newspaper reporting. She has been writing about cities for Streetsblog for six years.

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