NEW Santa Monica Place Mall! (house, neighborhood, shopping centers)

[John23]

Originally Posted by 1newyorkguy

haha...Nostalgia for crappy malls with roofs; give me a break. "human touch"? As if older malls were full of charm and today's are made by soul-less robots. Same corporate crap, different layout.

Look at the century city mall. That's a stark contrast.

-The old one, definitely more of a human, touch. Now, it looks like its out of the jetsons. Its nice and different, but the old one was nice too.

-Fox hills mall. I think its officially called westfield something or other now, but to me, its fox hills. The old one was different.

I'd love to find some photos of 80's malls in LA. Any good links, anyone?

[LASam]

It's open!!!

Santa Monica Place: Shoppers flock to remodeled Santa Monica Place - latimes.com

[BRinSM]

my wife works down the street, the place is a zoo. they also had a soft opening yesterday and traffic in the area was terrible, worse than usual. i'm sure it's neat, but it is just a mall, i'm sure the same shops can be found at any other mall in the area (there are already 3 other bloomingdales that i can think of within 15 miles).

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

i'm sure it's neat, but it is just a mall, i'm sure the same shops can be found at any other mall in the area (there are already 3 other bloomingdales that i can think of within 15 miles).

Agreed. I doubt I'll visit much ... just as I rarely visit 3rd street due to the congestion.

[Forever Blue]

I live an hr away & can't wait to see the new mall after the initial crowds die down. I don't have a Bloomingdale's at all in my area.

Heck, I still never went to the Americana at Brand in Glendale yet.

[John23]

Have to say, I don't like it.

A "fortress like structure"?!? I bet when santa monica place first opened, no one thought of it as a fortress like structure. It was just a normal, enclosed mall.

LA already has several open air malls. Americana in Glendale? Did we forget about that already.

Howard Hughes center is terrible. But SM already has a lot of open air shopping.

SM should be worrying about traffic and congestion more than another mall.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by John23

SM should be worrying about traffic and congestion more than another mall.

Expo Line, 2015. Light rail from Santa Monica Place to downtown.

[SoCal35]

Originally Posted by John23

Have to say, I don't like it.

A "fortress like structure"?!? I bet when santa monica place first opened, no one thought of it as a fortress like structure. It was just a normal, enclosed mall.

LA already has several open air malls. Americana in Glendale? Did we forget about that already.

SM should be worrying about traffic and congestion more than another mall.

Like some earlier posters, I agree this is just a mall to me. I also generally like Frank Gehry's work. However, the old SM Place Mall was a FORTRESS...totally closed off from the surrounding urban neighborhood.

It may NOT have been described as a fortess when it opened in 1980 simply because enclosed malls were the norm of the day. The so called "de-malling" revolution (underway for a good 10 to 15 years now) has replaced windowless shopping centers with centers that have a better connection to the surrounding streets.

The updated center is open to the neighbohrood on all sides and the public areas remain accessible at all hours. The old center broke up the natural flow of pedestrian traffic. It was a behemoth that was out of sync with Santa Monica's outdoor, walking culture.

Granted...it is still JUST a mall without a roof on it but at least it connects to its surroundings in a much nicer fashion.

If you owned a house or apt in that location would you just seal it off from the ocean and not take advantage of that fantasitic location? I know I'd want to take advantage of ocean views.

[SoCal35]

Originally Posted by californio sur

The old shopping centers are being replaced in favor of open-air which makes sense.

I wonder why Santa Monica didn't incorporate the multi-use approach in the new mall but am happy that they torn down the indoor shopping center [that isn't a very California type of shopping center anyway].

Actually, the Macerich Company (which owns SM Place Mall) did propose a major mixed-use center at the present mall's location. If I recall their proposal included up to a 15-story condo or apartment tower with ground floor retail, in addtion to a revamp of the existing mall space.

The residents of Santa Monica went nuts and knocked that proposal down in no time. I don't believe it was put to a referendum but there was enough of an outcry that the writing was on the wall and the ownership pulled the proposal before it got formally declined (or approved) by the city.

[SoCal35]

Originally Posted by John23

Have to say, I don't like it.

SM should be worrying about traffic and congestion more than another mall.

Santa Monica stands to gain an in sales taxes from the mall. That is a big part of local revenue streams....that is why you'll see some smaller cities fight for an auto mall. It can mean big bucks and no need to tax your voters. The tax falls on the shoppers who may or may not live in the community.

The old mall was very underutilized....I would not be surprised if Santa Monica collects more in sales tax revenue from the redone mall than they would have from the old, dying center.