Downtown Vs. The Mall (real estate, crime, restaurants)
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Okay, so I want to know why are so many people against the malls these days and age? I suppose some people believe that malls kill downtowns, but it has to be more than that. I really enjoy malls and their food courts and walking around seeing all the different people. The only reason I can see people going downtown is for the bars, nightlife, and upscale shopping. Also, people are saying malls and strip malls is a conservative thing. How is that a conservative thing?
There are like 3-4 malls in greater downtown Chicago(Water Tower Place is a prime example). I thought this thread was going to be a comparison of malls and downtown. I somewhat see it. I was at Orland Square Mall(suburbia) and it was pack and saw a diverse crowd of people. Big malls tend to draw in a diverse crowd just like downtowns.
I do not like malls. The stores are usually filled with cheaply made clothing that everybody wears. At smaller boutiques, I can get clothing that is better made that is more "exclusive" in that it does not have the production levels as places like the gap or banana republic.
Also, in a downtown area, I can pick to eat at a variety of unique places ranging from street vendors to high end food. Malls do not offer that. Not to mention being around an atmosphere with cool architecture.
Malls are poorly designed. The idea of course is to make one walk past as many stores as possible to get to where you really want to be. Malls contribute to suburban sprawl and most are automobile dependent in terms of reaching them which is not environmentally friendly. Malls also have a reputation as a hangout for packs of teens and in recent years a crime magnet as they're usually not well-patrolled. The regional mall concept is on it's way out thank god as real estate prices have made them far less profitable to build. The new wave is the lifestyle center, the open air concept which allows for being outside, easier access to the stores you want to go to, and a better selection of stores versus the crappy filler stores in most regional malls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_center_(retail)
Malls are poorly designed. The idea of course is to make one walk past as many stores as possible to get to where you really want to be. Malls contribute to suburban sprawl and most are automobile dependent in terms of reaching them which is not environmentally friendly. Malls also have a reputation as a hangout for packs of teens and in recent years a crime magnet as they're usually not well-patrolled. The regional mall concept is on it's way out thank god as real estate prices have made them far less profitable to build. The new wave is the lifestyle center, the open air concept which allows for being outside, easier access to the stores you want to go to, and a better selection of stores versus the crappy filler stores in most regional malls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_center_(retail)
Maybe I've been to the wrong "lifestyle centers" but the ones I've been to were basically malls, but just outside. They were still surrounded by large parking lots. They were car oriented as they were in the middle of suburban areas with large highways. They still had the same type of mall stores. They did have better food selections, but at the end of the day they were still chain restaurants. The lifestyle centers I've been too looked like poor attempts to re create a village atmosphere.
Maybe I've been to the wrong "lifestyle centers" but the ones I've been to were basically malls, but just outside. They were still surrounded by large parking lots. They were car oriented as they were in the middle of suburban areas with large highways. They still had the same type of mall stores. They did have better food selections, but at the end of the day they were still chain restaurants. The lifestyle centers I've been too looked like poor attempts to re create a village atmosphere.
Good examples: "The Avenue" open air malls in metro Atlanta.
I think maybe a good leaning toward discussion here since it's the General U.S. room, might be to discuss how we all feel American attitudes towards malls stand today, compared to yesterday, etc.
I'm in my mid-40s. In the later 1970s to mid-1980s, the mall building boom was in full swing. They were building enclosed malls on just about every corner and a mall was THE place that everyone shopped at, teens hung out at, etc. Experts predicts that malls (almost all built in the suburbs) would kill downtown shopping areas, and largely, they did either harm them a geat deal or completely kill them in smaller cities.
I'm from Charleston, West Virginia originally, and they had what was an attempt to prevent this by building the mall there (Town Center Charleston) right in the middle of downtown. The theory being, people would still have to go downtown to get to the mall, hence, downtown would survive WITH the mall. Didn't work. The mall was designed too large, and every business on the main streets downtown packed up and moved into the mall itself, or closed shop. The parking garage ensured people wouldn't walk around downtown either, as they just parked there, walked directly into the mall, and then left without ever seeing a street. Theory was ok, execution was horrible. Took decades for that city to even partially recover it's central business district and it still is only a shadow of what it was in the early 80s.
Atlantans started getting "malled out" a few years ago and that's when those Avenue centers started popping up, as well as the larger Atlantic Station project and a few copycat developments. They worked somewhat - people go to them, but as was said above by someone, they're still just repacked malls without a roof and air conditioning. Yawn.
I think Americans ARE getting over malls. They also aren't terrible impressed with "outdoor shopping" ideas. There may actually not be a replacement as each year more and more people shop online. The days of actually going to a physical store for many things may one day come to an end, or a trickle.
Good examples: "The Avenue" open air malls in metro Atlanta.
I think maybe a good leaning toward discussion here since it's the General U.S. room, might be to discuss how we all feel American attitudes towards malls stand today, compared to yesterday, etc.
What are those places like? The ones I refer to have had a mock version of a main street village, but you were surrounded by large parking lots and large highways, making it tacky and fake. Is the "avenue" like that? Or is it something different.
I prefer indoor malls to "strip malls" any day. I also see no problem with developing a area where most of the clothing stores I want are together. It is just covenient unless you only shop at one or two stores anyway despite what the density nuts will tell you. Call me "Mr. Sprawl man" for liking malls and easy shopping.
Last edited by sk8t; 11-15-2010 at 10:40 AM..
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