With 25 Percent Of Its Downtown Dedicated To Parking, Atlanta Is One Of The Worse Cities In The Country For Land Use

Image: Christian Petersen (Getty Images)

With billions of parking spaces available across the country, parking is a big deal for most American cities. It’s also ruining cities. Some cities are faring worse than others when it comes to just how much land is being dedicated to parking.

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Urbanize Atlanta reports that a new study shows that the city is one of the worst in the country for dedicating land for parking use: some 25 percent of downtown Atlanta is dedicated for parking.

Image: Parking Reform NEtwork

A nonprofit called the Parking Reform Network conducted the study of ATL and 80 other U.S. cities. The study assigned a score to the city based on how parking is allocated: the higher the number the worse the rating.

Downtown Atlanta’s Parking Score clocks in at 79. Only eight other cities have core areas that score lower.

By comparison, these are Parking Scores for the top five, respectively: New York City (score: 5); San Francisco (8); San Juan (11); Washington DC (12), and Chicago (14).

Analysts found that roughly 25 percent of downtown Atlanta’s land is dedicated for parking uses. That’s significantly higher than the average—16 percent—for the core of metropolitan areas with 5 million people or more.

Only these 10 cities scored the best for parking. Image: Parking Reform Network

Only eight cities fared worse than Atlanta: Houston, Tampa, Las Vegas, Ft. Worth, Detroit, Arlington, Riverside and San Bernardino coming in dead last. Researchers at Parking Reform Network noted how they came to score cities and noted how cities need more public transportation.

Our research indicates that the percentage of land taken up by parking decreases as the percentage of individuals who opt for public transportation, walking, or biking as their primary commuting methods increases. Public transportation not only enables the utilization of urban space but also enhances its value. This revelation underscores a clear truth: to foster densely walkable cities, we must prioritize accessibility over excessive parking.