‘Peak mall’ was circa 1982... ah, memories... The food courts with Hot Dog on a Stick and Orange Julius.... packs of teen and pre-teen girls with big hair and leg warmers roaming about...
Move the HBCU’s and their alumni centers there, for obvious reasons.
………...if any freeper believes this is all due to the internet and Amazon and changing economy I got news for you. I operated 2 stores in a large 140 store mall for ten years.
When my lease was up at the end of ten years I told the jerkoff landlord no thanks. I did so because the people that spent money quit coming due to the busloads of “folks” the City insisted on hauling to the Mall.
If you look under the bed, it will be basically the same story everywhere.
We have two malls that died locally, three others that have survived, one thriving. One of the dead ones was razed years ago, was a showplace at one time, ice skating rink, merry go-round, but location was ambitious and not where the city ultimately grew, bad site planning. The other dead mall has been repurposed into other things. The one that is thriving continues to be a magnet for other retail, has a major ring road around it now like an airport. Bus line just extended to it though, so bad behavior by youths inside the mall has begun. So, we’ll see how long it continues to thrive. Might die in the middle like an old tree, the other retail is outdoor, not enclosed. Has the fanciest Dick’s Sporting Goods I’ve ever seen on the periphery, multistory with escalators.
i like going to malls if i have time to kill. I like seeing what i am buying, for shoes and clothes. I do buy online also.
Here is my “copyrighted” solution:
Turn the larger ones into secured, self-contained, SENIOR CENTERS.
1. Transform compatible store fronts into “townhouses” (single or multiple), “bungalows, or apartments.
2. Larger, anchor-store spaces can house commercial support for seniors, such as grocery store, drugstores, medical support (doctors, therapy, etc).
3. Place security at all entrances 24/7.
4. Mall walking space for senior exercise (or in some cases, power wheelchairs, small scooters, etc); it’s air conditioned, level, and safe.
5. Secured parking in parking lot, and golf car shuttle to and from cars.
I think the older, and larger, abandoned malls would be excellent for this purpose. No section 8, or government housing.
Then again, it might be prohibitively expensive.
It was a thought....sigh.
Blame Amazon and WalMart.
they could save themselves by offering free pot for every purchase over $50
This Is Dan Bell “Dead Mall Series” is rather interesting too.
When will the possibilities of indoors agriculture taking over these malls. I have to believe growing tomatoes year round—organically and locally—will come from these controlled and partitioned environments.
And pot. Cannot forget about pot.
Turn them into housing?
I see good potential for nursing homes, retirement apartments, high end-self contained communities, or even affordable housing. Possibilities exist but will take dollars and imagination for conversion.
All look like sets for a Zombie Apocalypse flick.
Eerily dystopian shot of America’s likely future if we are unable to turn the tide in the culture war.
For me, malls died when the arcades left.
:( no more Pac-man, Asteroids, Centipede...
In areas that are rundown and viable, they should revamp them into Schools.
I’m Asian and became citizen in 1996. I wonder how many of those malls were abandoned because of too many blacks; how many of them due to economic shift ie plants moved overseas ?
“Every town has the same two malls: the one white people go to and the one white people used to go to.” - Chris Rock
Turn them into prisons.