Downtowns shouldn't have surface parking lots, but if they do, they should be nice.
Downtown Salt Lake City does an amazing job with landscape requirements for surface lots, and as a result, you often don't realize you're walking past one.
Here's an example of what a surface parking lot can be:
And here's what it looks like from above:
Compare that to Tulsa where there are no landscaping requirements for downtown surface lots:
In addition, Tulsa's street trees suffer b/c they are never planted in wide green spaces where they can establish roots and receive water and nutrients. We plant them in little holes and wonder why they're so weak and diseased. Personally, I don't think we should plant trees near buildings downtown, but we should require wide landscaped buffers around all surface lots. This would beautify the parking blight, and also give trees the space they need to grow.
They just planted dozens of trees in the Blue Dome area this past winter. Many are planted in 3 x 3 spaces, next to buildings and under utility lines. Not smart.