That’s kind of an interesting idea. I’m not sure government services offices are big enough to be given the “anchor” title, but a presence could be useful.
My local mall (Crossroads in Bellevue, WA) is different from any I’ve ever seen before. It isn’t upscale (like downtown Bellevue with its Tesla and Apple and Microsoft and peculiar smelling stores). It absolutely encourages staying a long time. The food court is massive and very diverse, and they set up a lot of gaming and crafts tables. So there are always lots of people eating meals and lots of high school kids playing their board games and knitting groups, etc.
The library system has a large presence, as does the Bellevue city government and a state auto licensing office. I’d say that the actual anchor is the grocery store, although Half Price Books has a big presence too.
It is actually a place that is pleasant to hang out in, and we frequently meet up with people there. That is high praise from me, because ordinarily being trapped in a mall is something I consider a form of torture. As far as I can tell it is thriving and always seems busy. I think it reflects the demographics of the area: a huge immigrant population that is highly educated and more often than not employed in the tech sector, kind of mashed together with more elderly folks who have lived in the neighborhood since when Bellevue was just a sleepy suburb / bedroom community.
When I live in Silicon Valley, an expression you’d hear sometimes was, “Why, I know how to find the Mountain View post office.” It was located in a rather large strip mall that had a long arm at an angle to the street out front, a 90-degree bend, then a shorter arm that headed back toward the street. The PO was the unit that was right in the angle, presumably so they could get a space wider than any of the storefronts along the arms, to say nothing of room to expand into for all that stuff in the back. Looking on Google, it seems to have closed.
Anyway, there was “Post Office” listed on the big sign with all the business’ names but if you didn’t think of looking for the flag pole, it was really hard to spot.
You’re not old enough. Yet. There’re plenty of little old ladies & men that still go mall-walking. As do teens. It’s all us folks in the middle who don’t.
The people who use most “government services” face to face are not the people most retailers wants near their stores.
I’m glad that other people are coming to the “malls as activity places” conclusion, because I came to that conclusion myself. In the years I lived in central Illinois I watched the local mall turn from a dying dump into a thriving Place To Be. They brought in a lot more seasonal vendors like Hickory Farms, a lot of vendors that sold things by giving out free samples (like the place that would curl your hair for you), and lots of kids’ activities like an indoor playground, ride-on animals, video games, etc.
We’ve moved to the PNW, and I’m watching the mall out here do the same thing. My kid and I can spend all morning at the mall just doing the activities.
The world’s 6th biggest mall is in my town, about two hours from me. Its as big as Mall of America and King of Prussia combined, and 1/3 bigger than West Edmonton. Planning a trip there with inlaws during Christmas. One of the few things I can think of that is worth going to just to say you went there and saw it.
Or retail-oriented suburbs. There’s a city in western Ohio that had to be threatened with a loss of federal highway funding because it refused to allow buses from Dayton to stop at its mall.
Mostly it’s because all the maintainance for an indoor mall costs a lot, so they have to have higher rents.
Depends on the government service. The DMV would be a good one. A criminal court, not so much.
There used to be an office of the Motor Vehicles Division in a mall near where I live. Very convenient, but then they closed it and moved to a location that was very inconvenient, not just for me but I expect for a lot of people. More people than those it convenienced, as best I can tell.
When I lived in the city proper in St. Louis we had light rail that went out to the airport near the county line with the then-booming “designated white flight” county just across the river.
A county bond initiative came up to extend the light rail out to their county. Somebody ran ads that showed a young black man riding the train one way without a TV under his arm and riding back the other way with a TV under his arm. The symbology was unmistakable. The bond issue didn’t even come close to passing. Nobody could ever figure out who or what paid for those ads. Odd that.
So the rail system was extended the other way into more sensible parts of town and strangely enough there wasn’t a train-riding crime wave surrounding each new station.
I’ve seen this kind of anti-transit campaign in various cities and I always wonder: Who on earth would ride a train to commit a robbery? I mean, I know crime happens on public transit like elsewhere. But who would specifically take public transit to their crime location? How do they expect to go home with the loot?
Since I moved to my current location about a decade ago, the only kind of mall I really go to is a “town center” version. I was going to say I haven’t gone to an indoor mall or seen a food court in years, but that’s not really true. They DO have a regular mall section with typical stores and food court, but so many of the stores and restaurants are outside of that. And the restaurants outside of the main area are not typical “mall restaurants.” Some of the anchor stores are detached completely and they all have their own parking lots. So, let’s say I needed to go to Macys for something and take my daughter to Stride Rite and the American Girl store, before grabbing something to eat. I would never have to enter the enclosed mall section.
There were plans for this with the mall in my hometown, but I think it’s just an abandoned parking lot at this point. Salisbury Mall (Maryland) - Wikipedia Either way, the structure was useless and the only value was the concrete “land.” I imagine most shopping malls that reach the end of the line are in similar disrepair, with structures that would need to be raised. My mall had a leaky ceiling and other issues for years. Instead of repair they just closed off sections until the entire mall consisted of a single hallway (down from 4 wings with anchors) leading to a GNC, with other small shops like antique vendors, a hair salon, and discount grocery.
It looks like the familiar decline, with only Sears holding on until recently. I’m not a construction expert, but I’m guessing with most of the structures built 35-50 years ago and mostly neglected in the past decade, it probably needs demolition. Heck my house is only a little over 20 years and I think a complete rebuild would make more sense than an extensive remodel.
Judging from the bolded words, you seem to feel that being forced to enter the enclosed mall would be a horrible punishment, and entering the food court would be an even worse fate.
What about bad weather? When it’s a miserable cold rainy or snowy day, who wants to trek across 3 parking lots?
I know that indoor malls are dying and outdoor “lifestyle centers” are growing…but I just don’t understand why. Does the cheaper rent offset the loss of foot traffic?
Does a mother taking her daughter to the StrideRite shoes and the American Girl toy shop really prefer to avoid a quick lunch at the food court because there’s too much diversity and too many choices, and prefer the “lifestyle center” which forces you to spend twice as much money and time at a sit-down restaurant.?
This is my grudge with malls (and airports to a large extent). I want a full-service, sit-down restaurant. I don’t go to the mall (or airport) to eat, but if I’m forced to eat there, I don’t want fucking Panda Express.
I’m no mall expert, but I know a thing or three about airports.
Hub airports in the last few years have really gotten that message and generally have plenty of sit-down options. Yes, it take a bit more time than the McDs or the prefab sandwich or salad kiosks. And they charge a location premium. But if you want a full plate meal served by waitstaff on crockery with metal forks & knives you can generally find it readily. Unless you catch them right at 12 noon or 5pm they’re pretty darn quick; no matter the time of day they understand that 100% of the clientele is in at least some hurry.
I can’t speak to DTW, not having been there since around 2002. But at least my employer’s hubs do pretty darn well for real eating. I expect nothing less from Delta there.
For sure if you begin or end your trip at a hub airport, it make sense to travel on the hub carrier. The non-hub carriers there generally occupy the lesser older terminals and have the lesser services. Like the aforementioned prefab sandwiches and salads in a poly clamshell and that’s about it. They’ll keep death at bay for another 6 hours, but that’s about all they have to recommend them.
Expansions started perhaps, it’s because shopping has become more popular lately in Qatar and so goes with the increased in its population of people who may want to look foods around.
The concerns I’ve heard aren’t so much that thieves would ride out, commit a crime, and ride back, but just that the simple presence of…urban people is objectionable. They’ll get jobs in the area, shop in the area, etc., and the imagined negative consequences will simply be a side effect. (In the mall situation I mentioned, people were very concerned that…urban teens would take over the mall and make it unpleasant for the good suburban gentry. Bus people (wink-wink) are just so boisterous and rowdy.)
There’re plenty of little old ladies & men that still go mall-walking. As do teens. It’s all us folks in the middle who don’t.