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Yeah. That retail mix reminds me of Tyson's Galleria. Porsche Design, Brooks Brothers, Tiffany, Apple, etc. As much as I am an advocate of PG, getting Nordstroms into BTC or Woodmoore is a stretch unless there is some radical retail explosion at one of those places. The ONLY place that could pull that off in the county would be National Harbor. And even that would be a stretch. Too bad that's not a mall. We need the low-hanging fruit first. There are no Apple stores. Not even at the state's flagship campus. Tanger gets the nod for having the most upscale brands, but they are discount stores and not full retail.
Nordstrom Rack may just be that low-hanging fruit that would get us bigger wins down the road.
Annapolis also has a Nordstrom's and a Jared's (hate the commercials). Plus a bunch of others.
What killed the Boulevard were the early problems, they opened bad and the impression stayed that way. They weren't that far from the former Landover Mall and got spillover from that area.
What I find interesting in these threads, remember I just work in PG and don't live there, is that some posters are willing to put up with a certain level of bad/criminal behavior with a "That's life". That's how the St. Charles Mall almost lost it all. It's improving but they've lost a large customer base, never to return. Brandywine is now (according to my students) also having issues.
I agree, especially regarding the Boulevard. When it comes to malls, the owners and managers have to keep an eye on the young people hanging out, to prevent problems. Look at the Mall in Columbia. The shooter there allegedly was a "mall rat" who hung out at the skateboard shop. Malls are attractions for young people, but they need to find somewhere else to go hang out all day.
Sure, you should be vigilant at any mall, but when a mall becomes known for substantial criminal behavior, it should give one pause. The Boulevard is one such place.
What I find interesting in these threads, remember I just work in PG and don't live there, is that some posters are willing to put up with a certain level of bad/criminal behavior with a "That's life".
Why is that interesting? Bad/criminal behavior is everywhere. Driving drunk, cheating on taxes, underage drinking, a teacher dating 14 year old student, hitting a parked car, shoplifting is bad or criminal behavior. Heck cutting someone off on the road is bad behavior. That happens everywhere. Violent crime is different. A lot of it isn't random. Some is. Nobody likes that or wants it, but a violent crime isn't always a reason not to patron somewhere or live somewhere. Columbia Mall isn't going to close because of a shooting. Some may stop going there. Many will continue. The neighbors of that cop out in Gaithersburg aren't putting their house up for sale because he shot his son who was stabbing his mom. Living somewhere are working somewhere are 2 different experiences. A cousin of mine works in NYC, but doesn't live there. Another cousin of mine does live there and their lives and perceptions of the place are very different. Which one's opinion of the city is more negative and they couldn't fathom living there? The one that doesn't actually live there and she could find a chorus of others that feel the same way, but that's her.
Why is that interesting? Bad/criminal behavior is everywhere. Driving drunk, cheating on taxes, underage drinking, a teacher dating 14 year old student, hitting a parked car, shoplifting is bad or criminal behavior. Heck cutting someone off on the road is bad behavior. That happens everywhere. Violent crime is different. A lot of it isn't random. Some is. Nobody likes that or wants it, but a violent crime isn't always a reason not to patron somewhere or live somewhere. Columbia Mall isn't going to close because of a shooting. Some may stop going there. Many will continue. The neighbors of that cop out in Gaithersburg aren't putting their house up for sale because he shot his son who was stabbing his mom. Living somewhere are working somewhere are 2 different experiences. A cousin of mine works in NYC, but doesn't live there. Another cousin of mine does live there and their lives and perceptions of the place are very different. Which one's opinion of the city is more negative and they couldn't fathom living there? The one that doesn't actually live there and she could find a chorus of others that feel the same way, but that's her.
You totally missed my meaning. The Columbia Mall shooting won't impact (well it might, some people are stupid) many people's shopping choices. BECAUSE IT'S A RARE TO ALMOST NON-EXISTENT OCCURANCE.
On the other hand, for the first two or three years after the Boulevard opened, and before that Landover, there were almost nightly incidents with a murder or three thrown in for a change.
And you're right "crime can happen anywhere", and that's part of the problem, your seeming tolerance of it because "it can happen anywhere". All things being equal (meaning mostly you have transportation and time) where are you going to shop and spend your dollars? Where there is a history of problems or where the problems are rare and any are an aberration?
Why is that interesting? Bad/criminal behavior is everywhere. Driving drunk, cheating on taxes, underage drinking, a teacher dating 14 year old student, hitting a parked car, shoplifting is bad or criminal behavior. Heck cutting someone off on the road is bad behavior. That happens everywhere. Violent crime is different. A lot of it isn't random. Some is. Nobody likes that or wants it, but a violent crime isn't always a reason not to patron somewhere or live somewhere. Columbia Mall isn't going to close because of a shooting. Some may stop going there. Many will continue. The neighbors of that cop out in Gaithersburg aren't putting their house up for sale because he shot his son who was stabbing his mom. Living somewhere are working somewhere are 2 different experiences. A cousin of mine works in NYC, but doesn't live there. Another cousin of mine does live there and their lives and perceptions of the place are very different. Which one's opinion of the city is more negative and they couldn't fathom living there? The one that doesn't actually live there and she could find a chorus of others that feel the same way, but that's her.
You should probably find out why people stopped shopping at Springfield Mall, in Virginia. This of course is after Princess Diana visited the mall and it had a reputation for being one of the best malls in the region.
You totally missed my meaning. The Columbia Mall shooting won't impact (well it might, some people are stupid) many people's shopping choices. BECAUSE IT'S A RARE TO ALMOST NON-EXISTENT OCCURANCE.
On the other hand, for the first two or three years after the Boulevard opened, and before that Landover, there were almost nightly incidents with a murder or three thrown in for a change.
And you're right "crime can happen anywhere", and that's part of the problem, your seeming tolerance of it because "it can happen anywhere". All things being equal (meaning mostly you have transportation and time) where are you going to shop and spend your dollars? Where there is a history of problems or where the problems are rare and any are an aberration?
But I think you also have to consider what Lubina also said which is that most often, violent crime is not a random occurrence against random individuals. Most often, the victim and the criminal know each other or have some sort of connection. This is the case with the Columbia Mall shooting. Back in the Landover Mall days, the problem was neighborhood gangs. I went to the mall as a teenager to get my hair cut and never noticed or witnessed violence there. I visited once a week. I even went to the movies there. I'm not saying if I didn't see it, did it happen, but I never experienced gunfire or security guards rushing to one end of the mall for anything. Remember, the bad always gets more press than the norm.
If I went to BLVD at the Cap tonight, I can guarantee I won't witness anything violent, etc. Not to say that people aren't justified in their perception. I'm sure crime played a part in its demise. And that's a shame. And there are some other issues that may have played a part. But I can suspect that the number of victims were perhaps a small fraction of the number of visitors. I know that some of the shootings were between related individuals as well if I'm not mistaken.
But I think you also have to consider what Lubina also said which is that most often, violent crime is not a random occurrence against random individuals. Most often, the victim and the criminal know each other or have some sort of connection. This is the case with the Columbia Mall shooting. Back in the Landover Mall days, the problem was neighborhood gangs. I went to the mall as a teenager to get my hair cut and never noticed or witnessed violence there. I visited once a week. I even went to the movies there. I'm not saying if I didn't see it, did it happen, but I never experienced gunfire or security guards rushing to one end of the mall for anything. Remember, the bad always gets more press than the norm.
If I went to BLVD at the Cap tonight, I can guarantee I won't witness anything violent, etc. Not to say that people aren't justified in their perception. I'm sure crime played a part in its demise. And that's a shame. And there are some other issues that may have played a part. But I can suspect that the number of victims were perhaps a small fraction of the number of visitors. I know that some of the shootings were between related individuals as well if I'm not mistaken.
Just for clarification, there has been no connection found between the shooter and the victims in the Columbia Mall Shooting. You also have to consider, that even in situations with what has happened in the past at the BLVD, you can just happen to randomly have an interaction with someone and it quickly turn violent, especially when alcohol is involved. Happens very often in sports bars. Certainly if you go into that environment, you should have that expectation no matter where you go as long as alcohol and sports are involved.
But with that said, I don't think people should make their decision to go to a place based on relationships involved in the crime or not. What should matter is the overall degree of violence. I think what we can certainly say about the BLVD as opposed to other shopping centers, is that the shopping center has lacked good security for years and perhaps if it had started out with better security, that the perception of the safety of the shopping center would be different today than it is now. The negative perception of what the BLVD is, largely stems it's much publicized violent history. Would these things even happen if security was better?
Also consider that when it comes to criminal activity and where people see the potential of it, a lot of it has to do with the environment as well. When you see a lot of empty store fronts and certain types of stores within that shopping center, it puts you in a different mindset. Much of it is just perception more so than reality, but people are wired differently. You will have people who think like Lubina and people who think like NBP. Some people will see things as unacceptable, some will tolerate more. I think the goal should be for a shopping center to aim for the more conservative crowd and expect the more tolerant to come. With that said, I think regardless of how good of an experience people could potentially have at your shopping center, if people continue to have the same issues of violence, then you can't ignore it just because you have a group of people who never see these things happen.
I have said before I think the way we perceive crime in different areas is subjective. People who see it tend to exaggerate it and people who don't tend to underestimate it, which is why I always encourage looking at something objective like statistics and forming your own conclusion if a place is safe or not.
It seems as if there were a few major violent crime incidents that have affected the Blvds rep. But based on this thread these seem to be infrequent so I wouldn't call the Blvd dangerous. I've never had any issues at the Blvd ever other than seeing some rowdy kids, but that hasn't been my experience everytime I've visited and I lived near the Blvd for three years so I was over there pretty often.
I was also able to find articles where a gun fight broke out in an Annapolis Mall and four people were injured and a woman stabbed another woman but people seem to think this mall is safe and I've never heard anything bad about it. I'm sure if people were to go searching they would likely realize that more crime has happened in many more shopping areas than they realize. In that case one should stay away from any shopping area.
It seems as if there were a few major violent crime incidents that have affected the Blvds rep. But based on this thread these seem to be infrequent so I wouldn't call the Blvd dangerous. I've never had any issues at the Blvd ever other than seeing some rowdy kids, but that hasn't been my experience everytime I've visited and I lived near the Blvd for three years so I was over there pretty often.
I don't know if that's a fair assessment. If you based the safety of a shopping center, on what's reported in the news and made a story, then I don't think you will ever get a clear picture one way or another. The news media is fickle. The stories that happened at the BLVD were highly publicized because one happened during the Super Bowl one year and another one happened in a bar that was owned by one of the more well-known Washington Redskin players that the team has had in recent memory. Does the fact that other possible incidents happening, weren't publicized, infer that it's safe? I think only police reports have the answer to that. The news will report what gets attention and not always to inform.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Missingatlanta
I was also able to find articles where a gun fight broke out in an Annapolis Mall and four people were injured and a woman stabbed another woman but people seem to think this mall is safe and I've never heard anything bad about it. I'm sure if people were to go searching they would likely realize that more crime has happened in many more shopping areas than they realize. In that case one should stay away from any shopping area.
For the record, the area outside of Annapolis Mall is considered to be a bad area, and I have heard that Annapolis Mall has it's elements. I think it's just a matter of the source.
I don't know if that's a fair assessment. If you based the safety of a shopping center, on what's reported in the news and made a story, then I don't think you will ever get a clear picture one way or another. The news media is fickle. The stories that happened at the BLVD were highly publicized because one happened during the Super Bowl one year and another one happened in a bar that was owned by one of the more well-known Washington Redskin players that the team has had in recent memory. Does the fact that other possible incidents happening, weren't publicized, infer that it's safe? I think only police reports have the answer to that. The news will report what gets attention and not always to inform.
For the record, the area outside of Annapolis Mall is considered to be a bad area, and I have heard that Annapolis Mall has it's elements. I think it's just a matter of the source.
Unfortunately the perception by media and even some residents of Prince Georges County is that it is not a safe place to shop. But you must judge for yourself, everyone's perception and experience is different. Annapolis Mall definitely has its share of shady characters and rowdy teens. The bordering neighborhoods have very low income households and high crime rates but it is rarely mentioned because it is Annapolis.
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