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We have a hugh mall here in Rockland County, NY...the Palisades Mall...what a dump...it attracts people from a 75 to 150 mile radius who I guess have nothing better to do that go shopping...there are gangs on each floor roaming around...looking for prey...there are stolen vehicles...vehicles broken into...assaults...all of which fail to appear in the local paper/news stations...because the mall does not allow the release of any negative incidents......hopefully one day..it will sink into the ground...since it is built on a dump......but not soon enough...
eww Palisades Center. That mall is one of the biggest I've ever seen (and the only mall I've ever seen which has a Home Depot and carpet floors!). It's a big ugly box off the NYS Thruway.
Well, sort of. I mean, if the malls were actually unique, they could give a glimpse into the atmosphere and culture of a place. But a mall is a mall is a mall. They've all got pretty much the same anchor stores which carry pretty much the same brands, the food courts have pretty much the same vendors or at least the same kinds of food, the carousels look pretty much the same, the lighting and indoor landscaping are pretty much the same, and the store directories contain pretty much the same stores as malls all over the country. Just like a Holiday Inn in suburban Atlanta isn't much different from a Holiday Inn in suburban Seattle, neither are suburban malls much different from each other. At least that's been my experience. If someone has pics of a mall that is really unique to a particular city, I'd love to see them.
What is the difference between "most malls" and "most downtowns"? In general, downtowns have dept stores, and specialty shops, just like the malls. I know, Boston has its Faniel Hall (sp?), SF has Ghiardelli Sq (ditto), Boulder, CO has Pearl St., things like that, but downtown is usually downtown. I'm not going to defend malls, but I have noticed they all seem to take on the character of their city, and for most of us, they are about the only option for buying moderately priced clothing, housewares and other items of daily needs. You probably couldn't find a $30 pair of jeans in any store on Pearl St.
What is the difference between "most malls" and "most downtowns"? In general, downtowns have dept stores, and specialty shops, just like the malls. I know, Boston has its Faniel Hall (sp?), SF has Ghiardelli Sq (ditto), Boulder, CO has Pearl St., things like that, but downtown is usually downtown. I'm not going to defend malls, but I have noticed they all seem to take on the character of their city, and for most of us, they are about the only option for buying moderately priced clothing, housewares and other items of daily needs. You probably couldn't find a $30 pair of jeans in any store on Pearl St.
I guess it's true that most downtowns seem to resemble each other at least on the street level.
But one thing I hate about malls is that they seem to turn their backs on their communities. I mean, how many malls have big huge windows? You have to park your car and enter a mall, and you won't see the outside world again until you go back to your car. The mall is its own Land of Make Believe. You'll find palm trees in malls in New York, artificial snow in malls in Florida, corridors with street signs as if they were actual streets, and storefronts built to look like the Main Streets that the malls have destroyed.
Shops in a downtown have big windows that open out onto the streets. They are part of a community. They weren't all built by the same real estate developer. They evolved over time and have adjusted to their communities' needs. You can take public transportation to downtown and walk along sidewalks with people doing all sorts of things: window shopping, jogging, walking to work, walking home, going to the market, walking to the symphony, the library, museums, art galleries.
I'd much rather eat at a sidewalk cafe downtown than in a mall food court (and lammius is right; what's with all that "bourbon chicken"??). I'd rather buy my clothes at Mast General Store in downtown Knoxville than at Hollister in West Town Mall. I'd rather get exercise by walking up and down Main Street than in some sterile mall. I'd rather sit on a park bench in a real downtown park than under a skylight in a mall breathing recycled air.
In some communities, the malls do serve as community centers. For example, FlatIron Crossing Mall in Broomfield, CO (part of metro Denver) has a Farmer's Market one day a week, and free concerts on Thursday nights. But yeah, food courts are not my fave, and I'm not crazy about Old Navy, PacSun and such places as my daughters like to shop. We went to an infill shopping area in an old steelyard part of Pittsburgh last summer and they had the same stores as FlatIron Crossing.
^That's an unfortunate truth, Katiana. Chain retailers have INVADED many urban centers. Manhattan has suffered perhaps the worst from this onslaught. We gave up on Times Square a dozen years ago or more, but now I can walk down E 86th Street in the UES and pass blocks of chain retailers such as Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Staples, Starbucks, Starbucks, Duane Reade, Dunkin Donuts, etc etc. Where did the local businesses go?
JMT, you can have it both ways, y'know. This mall in New York has restaurants with their typical stand-alone storefronts. this T.G.I.Fridays has "sidewalk" or "al fresco" "outdoor" seating INSIDE the mall (yet outside the TGIFridays storefront). Nothing like avoiding the stuffy air inside the restaurant by eating outs... oh right, still inside.
I love malls as long as they have the good stores that I love. My favorite mall is macys on 34th street in manhattan. I know it is not a real mall but it feels like one since it is so big and has restaurants and all that stuff. I also love the mall of manhattan down the street from macys. I really don't care if it's a mall or boutique I just love to shop.
I hate large indoor malls. Boring, suburban, giant parking lots with nothing but the same department stores. DC just built a mall insidie the city limits. But it is very urban. It's in the Columbia Heights section of the city. Very nice and they are still building on it.
I hate the Galleria in Houston. It's just too big for me and overkill (I hate shopping though). I'd like it better if they made the area more walkable and possible stopped building all the strip malls around it.
I hate large indoor malls. Boring, suburban, giant parking lots with nothing but the same department stores. DC just built a mall insidie the city limits. But it is very urban. It's in the Columbia Heights section of the city. Very nice and they are still building on it.
What stores are in it? What are the anchors?
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...hopefully one day..it will sink into the ground...since it is built on a dump...
...but not soon enough...
