So I’m going to admit, after yesterday’s school news, I needed something to lighten up my day. And this, showing up in my inbox from a local neighborhood activist, did the trick. It’s a March Madness bracket of cities with the most ridiculous amount of parking in their downtown cores. In the Elite Eight is Camden v. Detroit.
I’m just going to ask you to go there and vote. But, also go for the pictures. They show Camden from the vertical view. The parking lots are dark comedy, but comedy nonetheless.
Photo by Joseph Russell, courtesy of streetsblog.org
The farce gets worse, as an ugly story about the Camden Parking Authority is getting more attention, and it looks like a building was assessed at a high value for tax purposes, a negative value for eminent domain reasons, and all for the purpose of…you guessed it, another parking lot.
The lede on Next City’s story had me laughing out-loud, if only because I can’t believe I said this to the press (or that it was newsworthy):
According to Stephen Danley, a public policy professor at Rutgers and a downtown Camden, New Jersey, resident, there are many things Camden is lacking: a bustling downtown, retail stores, grocery stores, jobs. One thing it’s not lacking: parking.
“I don’t think Camden needs more parking,” Danley says. “And I don’t think that’s a controversial position.”
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Yawning what else is new.