Although Atlanta’s abundant surface parking lots are all too often ugly and underutilized, it’s just not feasible yet to eradicate and redevelop them all, despite the wishes of local urbanists.

That’s not to say city leaders should shrug shoulders and accept parking lots as inevitable blight.

With the help of Midtown Alliance, three intown lots have been upgraded to better comply with the neighborhood’s design standards, and to make the properties and their environs safer and more aesthetically appealing.

It’s an example of small enhancements having a large impact on how a certain place feels—and how pedestrian safety can be easily boosted.

The property at 1200 Spring Street, a lot owned by AAA Parking that’s sandwiched between a gas station and an office building, was retrofitted to include new trees and small medians separating parking spaces from the sidewalk.

Once little more than a slab of asphalt with a few stripes painted to indicate parking spots, the property has been repainted to include a walkway connecting the two adjacent properties.

At 44 North Avenue, an Eagle Parking-owned property across the street from the Bank of America Building, a few parking spaces were sacrificed to improve ADA accessibility.

A new planter box was installed where spaces once were, again separating the sidewalk from the free-for-all that once was.

Similar upgrades were made at LAZ Parking’s 1052 West Peachtree Street lot, where small medians with young trees now protect pedestrians from the parking scramble.

In theory, all parking lots should abide by the same guidelines, per Midtown Alliance:

A minimum landscaped area of 10 percent of the paved areas;

A minimum of one tree per eight parking spaces provided;

Ground cover for all landscaped areas;

Stone or concrete curbing installed around all landscaped areas and the lot’s edge;

Lighting throughout the lot;

ADA spaces to meet federal guidelines.

“With proper parking layouts, vehicular crashes are reduced and there is less likelihood of injury in conflicts between cars and those on foot,” reads a Midtown Alliance blog post. “Barrier curbs help pedestrians feel safer, and they also help maintain sidewalk and street curbing. Lighting likewise makes everyone feel safer.”

Officials have asked the owners of at least seven other parking lots in the subdistrict to make similar changes to improve the safety and beauty of the area, and they encourage anyone with complaints about potentially non-compliant lots to contact Atlanta’s public works department.

On a related note, Midtown Alliance is working with local businesses to create uniform parking signage for parking decks.