The other day while doing errands we were reminded of just how much the sea of surface parking lots in Downtown Detroit look like blight. Although there are some plans for parts of these spaces, and a few have cleaned up their visual act, there still will be a plethora of inefficient and ugly surface parking lots that don’t add character to the landscape of the city. Their inconsistent pricing and the false feeling of security (we’ve had multiple cops tell us the best place to park in the Central Business District is in a well-lit, secured garage) don’t add much to what’s starting to be a transformation downtown.

We know you love great and clear visuals, so we’re sharing what Reddit user Bsrk7 shared with this image included above from imgur (click for a larger version) of an aerial map from 1933 and a Google map from what looks to be a couple of years ago. It’s a reminder that although there has been progress, there’s still a lot of work to do be done to bring Downtown truly back.

And getting rid of these surface parking lots should be one of the things that is on that list.