Downtown Malling Continues To Haunt Some Cities

Like many suburbs in the 1970s, Sunnyvale approved and subsidized development of a mall as a way of "saving" downtown. It didn't work out that way in the in the long-run, as the mall itself blocked downtown progress.

While Sunnyvale was building a mall, though, neighboring Mountain View was laying the groundwork for what is now a thriving suburban downtown. Was it all foresight and good land use planning by Mountain View city leaders, or was there some luck involved?