Is Grand Rapids a victim of poor parking planning?

Some people think so.

Streetsblog USA is in the middle of its second annual Parking Madness competition.

The competition pits cities against each other in basketball-style brackets to see which city has the worst "parking craters".

Grand Rapids has done poorly by beating Salt Lake City and advancing to the Elite Eight.

What is a parking crater?

Streetsblog USA explains the parking crater competition as deciding who has "the worst sea of downtown surface parking in America" and "parking lots [that] make downtown look like a lunar landscape".

Grand Rapids is among 16 cities in the 2014 brackets.

Last year's cities are ineligible to be a part of this year's vote.

Streetsblog USA says Grand Rapids' "parking blight" probably has something to do with U.S. 131.

Streetsblog USA explains how the competition got started:

We heard from readers who want to see “more public shaming” of terrible transportation and planning blunders around the country. We aim to please.

Are parking craters an issue in Grand Rapids or is this unnecessary "public shaming?"

Read more about parking in Grand Rapids and let us know what you think.

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