Rate Richmond's Malls

[ronyusa]

You mean Westchester Commons? That is a very unfair comparison, Westchster is nice, huge, clean and shiny. Willow Lawn is the remnant of a ghetto, old-dilapidated strip mall, yes, even with the remodeling efforts! Not even a comparison imho. Willow Lawn shouldn't even have been on the list of "malls"!

Originally Posted by PaliBoy20

Yeah, I'd put Willow Lawn in comparison with Westchester.

[richmondpics]

Originally Posted by ronyusa

You mean Westchester Commons? That is a very unfair comparison, Westchster is nice, huge, clean and shiny. Willow Lawn is the remnant of a ghetto, old-dilapidated strip mall, yes, even with the remodeling efforts! Not even a comparison imho. Willow Lawn shouldn't even have been on the list of "malls"!

Willow Lawn is over 50 years older than Westchester Commons - of course it isn't huge and shiny, and it isn't a mall per se. I respect the re-use and reinvention of existing infrastructure versus sprawling further and further into the cosmos.

Speaking of Westchester Commons, what an utter disappointment in land planning. Originally pitched as an upscale "Mixed use, new urbanism" development.... a phony, half vacant Main Street sitting inside a MASSIVE sea of parking lots ringed by big boxes isn't even close. It could have been a great south of the river version of West Broad Village anchoring the predominately retail/residential portion of Watkins Centre. Instead, it's basically a power center with a 20 year shelf life at best. Man, did they fumble the ball.

Even a feeble attempt at something like this would have been a step in the right direction.
http://www.fairfaxcorner.com/

[ronyusa]

I think the Westchester Commons became a victim of the bad economy, the plans were made when everything was booming and by the time it was implemented things went downhill!

[sawyersmom]

Short Pump and Stony Point are my favorites.
I used to love Regency and used to work there too but the only thing worth visiting there is Forever 21 and Texas de Brazil but Texas is leaving for Short Pump.
I live near VCC and it's not bad, it does the job when I don't feel like going to the other ones.
Willow Lawn has pottential to get better--I heard they are remodeling everything.
I havent been to Chesterfield in years so can't help you there.

[Go-Richmond-VA]

Short Pump has it's share of expensive and regular stores, indeed. Can get to be a little tiring with all the walking, but well worth the shopping.

Stony Point is really nice, outdoor like Short Pump, much more high-end with Tiffany & Co., Coach, Saks, etc. Also has PF Chang's and Champp's as dining options! Fantastic, and good in terms of sizing.

Chesterfield has the Barnes & Noble, TJMaxx, HomeGoods, and GardenRidge to help raise the bar, and has indeed improved since I last went there. Also a new store just opened there: CottonOn.

Southpark: Well, if your in the Tri-Cities, only THEN would I recommend it. Not exactly a pleasant idea to be in that area after hours. Nothing worth notice.

Regency: the XXI Forever is probably what makes it so good. Also neat two-story mall with recent renovations done and a rocking food court, too. Nice department stores, also.

VCC: Live pretty close by, but not that great.... gone downhill since Short Pump and Stony Point opened. Good food court, but nearly a quarter of storefronts are empty....

Willow Lawn: Enclosed mall portion now demolished, new site of a park like area and kids area surrounded by lots of good national stores and office building, too. Really neat.

[Pruzhany]

Short Pump Towne Center and the corridor its sitting on has the most to offer. Henrico is building new centers around it, so its becoming an area where you can find almost anything you may want or need within a mile of it. The only real negative about this area is the massive amount of drivers. For some reason they throw all the skills they've learned since they got their licenses out the window when they drive into this area ( if you take the time to look at the road, you'll see crash debris at nearly every intersection).

[Yankeerose00]

Speaking of Westchester Commons, what an utter disappointment in land planning. Originally pitched as an upscale "Mixed use, new urbanism" development.... a phony, half vacant Main Street sitting inside a MASSIVE sea of parking lots ringed by big boxes isn't even close. It could have been a great south of the river version of West Broad Village anchoring the predominately retail/residential portion of Watkins Centre. Instead, it's basically a power center with a 20 year shelf life at best. Man, did they fumble the ball.

Even a feeble attempt at something like this would have been a step in the right direction.
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Is Westchester Commons considered a mall though? I live right down the road and to me it's just a shopping center like any other shopping center. It's nice to have especially when you live in the country. The only thing they are missing store-wise is a grocery store. I'll take Kroger but in my dreams I'd have a Wegmans.

However, I do agree 100% about the design. I don't think it's horrible, just could have been a lot better. The main street part of it is certainly pretty and since it hasn't been open long (from what I can tell, we recently moved back to VA ) I'm sure the shops will eventually fill up. As long as they don't get crazy and start putting in high end shops like you'd see around Stony Point or even Short Pump they'll be fine. Keep it middle class Midlothian style.

The roundabouts are a cluster-you-know-what. People don't know how to drive them. The center gets traffic but not THAT much traffic where they needed multiple lanes. I've seen roundabouts in shopping centers with one lane that did just fine. Here people change lanes in the roundabout which is a big no-no.
Also IMO the style of the buildings remind me of something you'd see in Florida or Arizona or something. I would have loved to see something more traditional or colonial styled like the shops of Sycamore.
I'm weird like that. I like malls to look modern but main street type shopping to look more traditional. Overall grade B- or C+

It could have been a great south of the river version of West Broad Village anchoring the predominately retail/residential portion of Watkins Centre

ahh that would have been nice. And there is certainly the population to use it. I still go north of the river for real shopping because there is nothing like the variety of Short Pump in such proximity. It could have also relieved a lot of the congestion that SP gets.


However, Short Pump remains, IMO, the best mall ever. When I lived up north for the past 3 years, I actually found myself missing it. It's so beautiful and such a pleasure to walk around. I really can't stand indoor malls anymore unless it's something like Tyson's.
Malls around the country are dying. A big part of it is because of online shopping.
These days if people go to a mall, they want atmosphere. They want to have a nice dinner, stroll around, get ice cream. It's a shame to see these big beastly stores half empty. But I saw that coming when I was living in Florida in the mid 90s and that was before online shopping. It's sad but I don't see it changing any time soon.