(Excerpt) Mall developers have rediscovered Main Street.Fifty years after the first strip plaza was created to serve North America's booming post-war suburbs, developers are going back to the drawing board.
They're coming up with something they call "lifestyle centres," vast open air developments that combine shopping with homes, office space, restaurants and entertainment.
They're all centred on a leafy "main street" where consumers are encouraged to stroll and sip coffee, rather than rush into their favourite discount outlet to make a purchase, and then rush off.
Read the full article here.
Most "lifestyle centers" I see going up aren't faux Main Streets, they're just gigantic, pedestrian-unfriendly strip malls.
ReplyDeleteSome lifestyle centers are nice, others need work...for example, The Village at Bridgewater Commons is overrated. The Grove at Shrewsbury and Tice's Corner are two of the nicest in NJ, but they need a bookstore. Even though it does not have a bookstore, The Promenade at Sagemore is the best lifestyle center in NJ.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure what to make of them (since I haven't been to one at all). The closest one so far in Toledo is Levis Commons in Perrysburg.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.leviscommons.com/
Said to open soon is "The Shops at Fallen Timbers" in Maumee...
http://www.generalgrowth.com/Properties/ndFallen_timbers.htm
Also up on the real estate chopping block is the Southwyck Shopping Center, which is being demolished to make way for a life-style center said to revitalize the area due to the interior mall's lack of tennants.
Too bad most of what's going on in my city will be in the south and outskirts of town. The north has already been overdeveloped to it's limit (best I've heard of lately is the possibility of a Wal-Mart to be built up in Bedford Township just across the state line).
The old Winter Park Mall is one these days. It's pretty sucessful witha regal 20 and 4 or 5 high end restuarants and some lesser eateries. The problem is parking is very tight, so I don't go very often. Like most malls,it lacks anything I'm very interested in at this stage of life, so I only go for the rare movie I want to see. It looks better than the monolith in a parking lot, but strolling in Florida rain is not that much fun.
ReplyDeleteThe first one of these I saw was "The District" at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Casino, in Henderson Nevada. I like the idea, but the execution is a little dicey (not to mention pricey)--it all seemed so forced and theme-parkish.
ReplyDelete