The End of Penn Circle (Pittsburgh, York: real estate, apartment, credit)

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I agree that people go into malls and similar air-conditioned spaces to "beat the heat," but I'm not sure you can say the same thing about other inclement weather. Particularly with snow, people tend to want to limit their recreational driving. In my experience with severe snowstorms in Pittsburgh is people will be much more apt to trudge up to the corner store on foot than attempt to drive down to the mall after a major snowstorm.

Interesting. It's different in my part of the world, but then again I can see that Pittsburghers might be more the homebody type who are willing to stay in their homes for 4-5 months of the year.

Down where I live, the mall is a big thing to do when the weather is bad. In fact, you can go to the mall an hour before the stores open and see almost as many people as you would after the stores open. I kid you not, go to my mall at 9 a.m. and you'll see walking clubs, people having business meetings or checking their e-mail at Starbucks, people meeting friends at a favorite bench. There's a playground on the second floor that does a roaring business when the weather is nasty. And after the stores open most of these people are still there so they can get some shopping done, too.

But that's just how things work down where I live, I can see your point that driving to the mall could be seen as too much of a PITA to make it worthwhile.

Re: strip malls vs. shopping malls. I think there is a future for both,since they have different types of stores.

Strip malls tend to have grocery stores, pharmacies, auto supply, etc. Usually items that you need right away. People want to be able to drive in and out of a strip mall, hop out of the car and get into a store within a minute, and buy their items quickly. Most people don't wander from store to store in a strip mall.

A shopping mall is more of a destination. People tend to walk around the mall a little bit, instead of going straight to a certain store and then back out again. The stores are predominantly clothing, books, artwork, and gifts. You are more likely to buy items at several stores if you go to a shopping mall. Shopping malls are where you go when you want to try things on, compare items, or window shop.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Shopping malls are where you go when you want to try things on, compare items, or window shop.

Malls are where you go when you forgot to do your Christmas shopping in time for shipping and you realize your family isn't going to tolerate stuff from Target for another year.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Malls are where you go when you forgot to do your Christmas shopping in time for shipping and you realize your family isn't going to tolerate stuff from Target for another year.

Then you go to the mall and discover one of the anchor stores is Target.

[selltheburgh]

Charlottesville VA has a great pedestrian mall. It is a small town with a major university though. It caters to locals and professionals more than students though. Supposedly it was rough around the edges 15-20 years ago. Now it is very lively - especiall in the summer. [url="http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35642&d=1384478407[/URL]


Most larger cities in Argentina have lively pedestrian malls. I was very impressed with them when I was there a decade ago.

[FreightTrainRunning]

When this article was written in 2012, no enclosed malls had been built in the US since 2006. Not sure if that's changed in the last two years but the age of big indoor malls is definitely on the wane. Not that they'll all go way anytime soon but I doubt that too many (or any) new ones will be built.

[that412]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Nationwide, virtually all pedestrian malls failed. They were a fad which just didn't work in the U.S. context (although they seem to work okay in Europe for some reason). The only places they have been successful are in very small cities which tend to have a university anchor, or a nearby tourist attraction like the beach.

One reason I have read why they failed was the perceived safety issues. Unlike a real mall, a pedestrian mall was not private property. In areas which had low-income residents, they became magnets for the homeless, druggies, and other loiterers which made suburban shoppers uncomfortable.

A lot of pedestrian malls were also put in Downtowns that were already headed for a steep decline. It's debatable how much the downfall of certain "Main Streets" was actually advanced by the implementation of pedestrian malls, due to the perceived safety and weather issues you and others have brought up, but in many instances, the streets that were pedestrian-ized likely would have gone south with or without the ped mall.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by GeneW

When this article was written in 2012, no enclosed malls had been built in the US since 2006. Not sure if that's changed in the last two years but the age of big indoor malls is definitely on the wane. Not that they'll all go way anytime soon but I doubt that too many (or any) new ones will be built.

Here is a 2014 article saying the same thing, including this quote:

Today, malls across the U.S. are dying. No new enclosed mall has been built since 2006, and Lewis predicts fully half of all our malls will close in the next 10 years.

The "Lewis" is Robin Lewis, author of "The New Rules of Retail", quoted in the article.

It goes on to make mention of one formerly mostly-dead mall in Atlanta that was revived by specifically catering to Hispanics and making it more of a general social and entertainment destination than just a place to go shopping. The malls that survive will probably do so by going in the same direction, by moving away from retail and incorporating entertainment activities or even non-retail businesses like schools and such. I'm reminded of Pittsburgh Mills here.

[Caladium]

Speaking about malls, do Pittsburgh malls tend to have Benn and Jerry's? Because it's Free Cone Day until 8 p.m. today.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Speaking about malls, do Pittsburgh malls tend to have Benn and Jerry's? Because it's Free Cone Day until 8 p.m. today.

The Ben & Jerry's at the airport (the Airmall!) was removed late last year.

[FreightTrainRunning]

There's a Ben and Jerry's on Penn downtown too.