Learn what is meant by "parking crater," and see why Louisville has the nation's worst.

SoBro in Louisville.

And what is a parking crater?

Angie Schmitt, editor of Streetsblog USA and originator of the "parking crater" term is blunt, "a parking crater is a depression in the middle of an urban area formed by the absence of buildings".

This video explains it further.

Parking Craters: Scourge of American Downtowns from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.

But there's more. Louisville's Number One!

Louisville’s parking lots win national attention as country’s worst “parking crater,” by Branden Klayko (Broken Sidewalk)

On Friday, Louisville received was awarded the dishonorable distinction as the city with the nation’s worst “parking crater,” a term for a vast area of surface level parking lots that deaden city block after city block. Streetsblog readers voted Louisville the winner of the “Golden Crater” trophy for a collection of parking lots in the SoBro neighborhood just south of Downtown Louisville below Broadway.

While the Parking Madness Golden Crater puts a high-profile label on a problem we all know Louisville continues to struggle with—surface-level parking lots—it can also help to focus attention to bring positive change to the area.

Many of the areas marked in red are used for parking.