Question about the eastland mall area (Charlotte, Albemarle: low income, section 8, apartments)

[leftygunz]

I am doing a project in my class about the growth of the Charlotte metro area. I have a question for people who lived in Charlotte for many years. When did the eastland mall area start to go down hill? I go there and see how depressed is and many people say that it was a very desirable area not that long ago.

[Metallisteve]

A co-worker of mine says about 8-10 years ago. At least that's when he says he stopped going there due to the undesirableness that was frequenting the mall.

[travlingrlclt]

I'm a native and I would say more like 10- 15 years ago.

[NCgirl]

I used to go there 10- 13 years ago when I was a student at UNC Charlotte. It was always busy. At first all of the stores and the ice skating ring were still open. Each time I went there were tons of kids skating. As time went on I started to notice stores closing and police officers posted throughout the mall.

[GeminiGal]

Originally Posted by travlingrlclt

I'm a native and I would say more like 10- 15 years ago.

Agreed.

[Native_Son]

late 70's & early 80's, Albemarle Rd. was "the" place to be.

By the late 80's it was exhibiting the symptoms of poor planning, that decline continues.

[marvinnative]

Have you been to Carolina Place Mall recently? What is happening there right now was how the decline of Eastland started. It seemed that it started attracting folks who were "up-to-no-good," for lack of a better way to describe it. Roaming groups of folks, set on shoplifting or just loitering/stalking to the point that families were no longer comfortable going there.

Eastland was a wonderful mall. During my high school years, it was THE place to go (our senior class officers had their pictures made for the yearbook there!) There was the ice skating rink (I took lessons there) and there was a movie theater inside the mall. There was a Farrell's ice cream shop (does anyone remember that they rang a bell and did all other sorts of antics, singing, etc.) During my college years, all the college-student apartments were in the vicinity of the mall, so it was very much a youth-driven area in the 1970's/1980's. Then, I guess the "college crew" all grew up and moved to the 'burbs and the apartments turned over into "lower rent" occupancy. By the time my kids were born (mid-80's), I had quit going there after dark - just wasn't safe to go there alone. Trying to remember where I did shop during the 1990's...(when did Carolina Place open?) Anyway, that's my rusty recollection of Eastland's rise and fall.

[anifani821]

The early 90s saw the demise of Eastland. It has been all downhill since then. I know that I personally stopped going there around 1990. So that is 18 years ago. I moved after that, and when I came back to visit in CLT, people told me that Eastland was no longer a place I should go. SouthPark underwent major renovations and from then on, SouthPark continued its upscale growth while Eastland slid further down.

You have to consider the areas surrounding Eastland to understand the mall's demise. Section 8 Housing has definitely affected the area . . . public housing . . . older neighborhoods that were then abandoned by owners (who sold and moved out) b/c of higher crime that started seeping in . . . investors buying up properties and essentially letting them go down while renting to low-lifes, etc. The mall itself was not the problem - the mall went down b/c the area was infiltrated w/ low income housing and the miscreants wh/ inevitably follow . . . pretty sickening. A lot of elderly poor are now at the mercy of thugs b/c of how the demographics have shifted. Supposedly, a revitalization plan was developed several years ago to address problems in that area, but I don't know that much has been implemented. You might check out that plan and see what you can find - as that will also tell a story.

[anifani821]

Carolina Place is gonna be affected if law enforcement doesn't step up and address the parking lot crime, wh/ all starts w/ thugs hanging around. Low-lifes are starting to inflitrate there and it makes me very angry. It is as close for me to drive to SouthPark as it is to CP . . . and my son informed me two years ago that "everyone" is shopping at SP now b/c the low-lifes are hanging around CP. I thought that was a very elitist attitude, so I purposely continued to shop at CP. Well, I have decided in the last year, that other than running into Sears . . . I just don't much enjoy my shopping experience at CP, especially after dark. I just won't go there any more after dark. Someone needs to start addressing the problems w/ miscreants hanging around or people are gonna start avoiding the mall and that would be awful . . . I was told the problem is that public transportation goes straight to the mall so thugs from other areas are finding their way to CP Mall, wh/ is too much like what happened at Eastland for law enforcement to be ignoring.

[marvinnative]

Originally Posted by anifani821

Carolina Place is gonna be affected if law enforcement doesn't step up and address the parking lot crime, wh/ all starts w/ thugs hanging around. Low-lifes are starting to inflitrate there and it makes me very angry. It is as close for me to drive to SouthPark as it is to CP . . . and my son informed me two years ago that "everyone" is shopping at SP now b/c the low-lifes are hanging around CP. I thought that was a very elitist attitude, so I purposely continued to shop at CP. Well, I have decided in the last year, that other than running into Sears . . . I just don't much enjoy my shopping experience at CP, especially after dark. I just won't go there any more after dark. Someone needs to start addressing the problems w/ miscreants hanging around or people are gonna start avoiding the mall and that would be awful . . . I was told the problem is that public transportation goes straight to the mall so thugs from other areas are finding their way to CP Mall, wh/ is too much like what happened at Eastland for law enforcement to be ignoring.

I have witnessed, firsthand, organized groups of shoplifters at Carolina Place. Last Christmas, while taking a rest, groups of folks were "organizing" nearby. Basically, they had large shopping bags and had targeted zones where they were "collecting" items and reporting back to base. Additionally, around Christmas, shoppers get so distracted that they are easy targets. It was sickening for me to see and hear this. I have been in the ladies room and seen where the shoplifters have left behind the packaging of items (CDs/DVDs). My sister and her young daughter were there last weekend and she said she felt she was being targeted (arms full of bags with kid in tow). She was fearful of leaving the building to go to her vehicle. I think that was her last trip to Carolina Place Mall. You are right, Ani! If things don't straighten up over there, they can look to Eastland Mall as their future.