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There is a mall near me that is very big and successful I think, if teens aren't with a parent after 5pm they get kicked out of the mall. I think it's kind of ridiculous, like where else can these teens hangout? Now me, having worked in the mall, I just go in get what I want and I'm out, I've grown to not like being in the mall most likely due to working in them.
The problem is that many parents will drop their teens off at the mall on a Friday or Saturday night with no money. This inevitably leads to problems with some teens who find other ways to acquire what they don't have money to buy.
Those shoppers who are actually there to buy something and have their young children with them are not fond of large groups of teens hanging outside of the stores using profanity and exhibiting bad behavior. Many have switched over to walkable shopping centers or ordering on-line where they won't be disturbed.
It's also a lot of BS, at least for the malls I'm familiar with.
Very true, a lot of bias on that site. Noticed it with a lot of the malls in Ohio, whose decline (and success), wasn't entirely the way it was portrayed from the biographies provided.
Regarding teens at malls, I think they are one of the mall's biggest demographic. Both malls near me cator mostly to young people and teens.
My mall 2 min away is about half stores for younger people and the other mall has an arcade, food court, movie theater, skate park, and about 20 stores geared towards younger people.
When I was younger Xmas time clothes or giftcards from the mall, video games, and other electronics was common.
It really depends on the mall. MacArthur Mall in Norfolk was like this but it was also a heavily trafficked "tourist" mall at the same time. Eventually the tourists won out. Now they have these draconian laws on the books to prevent groups of teenagers hanging out there, and a lot of the stores that did appeal to teenagers exclusively are no longer there.
Not necessarily for most people, though you're probably speaking about you and yours in general.
There's a broad range of weather conditions between light blustery windy rain (crappy and uncomfortable to be outside), periods of heavy rain, light snow, heavy snow/blizzard conditions, tropical storm/hurricane warning and flat out state of emergency "stay inside" weather. Leaning towards the lighter side of the "crappy weather" scale above, which is likely most of the time for a lot of places, would put people in a position where they'd be "cooped up" inside because they can't do anything pleasant outside, however a drive to a local indoor shopping mall is perfectly reasonable thing and a nice way to "get out of the house and go out" without having to be outside.
I was speaking of myself and my wife. We often walk in light snow (that can be a delightful time for walking) and in light but windy rain (not so delightful, but quite manageble when prepared). Tropical storms, blizzards, very heavy rains, and similar emergency conditions are stay inside weather, but also weather I do not want to drive in.
Malls are terrible substitutes for traditional public squares. As 'community gathering places' they fail but I don't think they were ever meant to be that. A mall is no more of a community gathering place than Walmart or Costco.
I am an urbanist at heart, but I will have to disagree with you on this.
I really enjoy going to the local mall with my toddler to simply hang out (and not shop) on Saturday mornings. The mall has a play area for children as well as an electric train ride. We browse the Disney Store, "ride" the escalator, people watch, and sometimes enjoy a milkshake.
Many families do the same thing, and it serves as a nice public square. In fact, I think malls try really hard to be "community gathering places".
While I certainly dislike the huge parking lot and car-oriented design, I live in Milwaukee, so winters make it difficult to find outdoor activities.
I am an urbanist at heart, but I will have to disagree with you on this.
I really enjoy going to the local mall with my toddler to simply hang out (and not shop) on Saturday mornings. The mall has a play area for children as well as an electric train ride. We browse the Disney Store, "ride" the escalator, people watch, and sometimes enjoy a milkshake.
Many families do the same thing, and it serves as a nice public square. In fact, I think malls try really hard to be "community gathering places".
While I certainly dislike the huge parking lot and car-oriented design, I live in Milwaukee, so winters make it difficult to find outdoor activities.
I've never been to a mall that had a playground in it so they seem to be rather rare, but I can see how they might be more common in colder parts of the country. but you can take your kids to any McDonald's or Chuck E. cheese restaurant and do the same thing because most of them have little playgrounds set up for little kids. would you consider McDonald's to be a 'community gathering place' as well? I sure don't.
would you consider McDonald's to be a 'community gathering place' as well? I sure don't.
It's perhaps not what I would enjoy for a meeting place, but it certainly is for lots of people in the U.S. Asthetically pleasing interiors, kids' play areas, cheap food, free wifi - they've done a lot to get families in the door. Still no big fan of the fare.
It's perhaps not what I would enjoy for a meeting place, but it certainly is for lots of people in the U.S. Asthetically pleasing interiors, kids' play areas, cheap food, free wifi - they've done a lot to get families in the door. Still no big fan of the fare.
I'm not a fan of the trashy red and yellow plastic interior decor. looks really cheap and ugly to me and the general ambiance is a step above that of a prison cafeteria. the only thing I like at McD's is the coffee but will have it to go because I can't stand the decor. I read that fast food places tend to purposely design their interiors to make people feel uncomfortable so they will not want to sit more than a few minutes at a time so they can cycle more through more customers. so that probably explains it.
McDonald's might serve as a de facto casual meeting place for many people the reason being because in the suburbs there's nowhere else for you to casually meet people (besides Starbucks). and it tends to attract a lot of trashy and thuggish types. do a search on 'McDonalds fight' on Youtube and you will see what I mean. there are literally thousands of McDonalds fighting videos posted on Youtube. and that's why I have my coffee to go lol. what is it about this place that seems to bring out the worst in people? is it the food? probably.
McDonald's might serve as a de facto casual meeting place for many people the reason being because in the suburbs there's nowhere else for you to casually meet people (besides Starbucks).
Walmart and Target has a lot of people walking around but I don't think anyone goes to Walmart or Target to 'hang out.' Just because there's people walking around doesn't make it a good place for teenagers to hangout. Teens don't go to the mall to socialize or hang out they go to shop when they go at all. And if they're not shopping they will be asked to leave or escorted out just as they would at Walmart and Target (which is why there are security cameras everywhere in the malls and big box stores). Accessibility is often an issue for young people. Outside of downtown urban areas you need a car to get to the mall which many teens don't have so when you see them they are usually with their parents.
Malls are terrible substitutes for traditional public squares. As 'community gathering places' they fail but I don't think they were ever meant to be that. A mall is no more of a community gathering place than Walmart or Costco. The internet and social networking sites are the modern equivalent of the public square. The internet is a terrible substitute for real human contact but that's where teens (and adults) are spending all their free time since the traditional public square no longer exists for the most part in North America - though they seem to be making a minor comeback in New York and San Francisco.
Wal*Mart and Target (also K-Mart) are not designed to attract youth to hang out. They have only three places to sit down -- carts for people too lazy or disabled to walk, toilet seats, or perhaps a bench near the entrance for people waiting for someone already in the parking lot to take them home. Those stores are not intended for socializing -- just look at the merchandise, decide if one wants it, and buy it or leave. Their store clerks are not expected to discuss anything other than the merchandise. Product knowledge is not a usual attribute of clerks in those stores.
Libraries, churches, clubs, and bars are places for socializing; box stores are not.
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