Faux-Urban Malls Not So Bad After All?
The new generation of malls like Santana Row in San Jose, which critics accuse of being 'artificial', may indeed be serving a valuable role associated with good urbanism -- public gathering space.
"As malls get better, more like cities (even if toy cities), I’m beginning to appreciate them for what they are: rehearsal spaces for future urbanites."
"There’s really nothing wrong with Santana Row. There should be, of course; we’ve all been bred to hate malls, and what could be more hateful than a mall masquerading as a chic, vaguely European town? Taking advantage of the sun in San Jose (the more or less real place it is situated in), the mall does away with interiority, offering shoppers an artfully paved and fountained plaza, arcaded sidewalks, live music, “street food,” and oversize chess in a shaded square—all to differentiate yet another collection of shops from the market. Crate and Barrel, Design Within Reach, and the Container Store anchor one end of the neighborhood, luring you with the promise of a design-rich life."
"People like to gather, and not just to shop. For many years I liked to think that it was in search of those extracommercial urban moments that Americans went to Europe in such numbers: a stroll on cobbles, a chance crepe stand or busker, the feel of being in a mass. But there’s a predictable feel to those places these days that rivals the formula of the American mall."
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Santana Row
Perhaps Santana Row saves 'a litte land", but I would certainly would not anoint it as some great model of dense development. There is a little housing above the fancy retail, but it defeats the entire purpose of mixed use. Who shops at Gucci, buys books at Borders, and eats at Maggiano's on a daily, weekly basis? Plus, some the apt. rents were astronomical even by San Jose standards. I believe Terrel Owens rented that penthouse suite above Borders for a while when he played for the 49ers.
The City of San Jose hated it because it drew retailers away from downtown. On a neighborhood level, it is sort of an extension of the adjacent Valley Fair Mall with lots of lookers. It's a nice project, but I still can't figure out why people like it functionally much better than you average suburban strip mall. Aesthetically, it is nicer, but it's not a trip reducer and it's a very modest land saver.
Federal, the developer, had to lease it as such to get the deal to pencil. Plus, the thing burned down during construction. I know they did Bethesda Row as well, but I think they are avoiding these things in the future. I honestly think they missed the market on this one, but nonetheless, it was a success, and it sure beats what was there.
Santana Row Density
Looking it up, I find that Santana Row is 40 acres with 1200 units. 30 units/acre is significant density. (I actually expected higher density, but I suppose it is not higher because it is for wealthy people who want very large apartments. I suspect that the same building envelopes could provide 40-50 units/acre for the middle class.)
Yes, it is just for the rich: it has been described as a symptom of the excesses of the dot-com bubble. But I would rather see these rich people living on 1/30 of an acre rather than in McMansions on 1/2 acre. And if the rich are doing it, then it is plausible that the same European-neighborhood model will appeal to the middle class.
I agree Santana Row is not perfect. I would like to see more affordable developments around transit nodes (with more varied retail and with more freedom of speech) that are based on a similar model of a traditional European neighborhood. I think it is a good sign that the developers of Santana Row built a European-style neighborhood that feels so good to be in.
Charles Siegel
Santana Row - Good And Bad
I love being at Santana Row, and I would not call it a mall. Malls are just for shopping, and Santana Row has housing above the shops.
Getting people to live at such a high density clearly saves land. If only it were at a transit node, it would be an ideal model for land-use and transportation planning.
But I can't agree with the article's claim that free speech is no longer an issue because it has moved to the internet. The internet has lots of little communities of interest, but no place where you can talk to the general public. People still have to go out on the streets to circulate initiative measures or to leaflet the public. Privately owned public spaces still are a real threat to freedom of speech.
The street artists and musicians in Santana Row are all hand-picked by the management. But the last time I was there, there was one person playing guitar on the public street at the edge of Santana Row, where we could easily see him from the private street of Santana Row, and that gave me some hope.
Charles Siegel