The End Of The Suburban Mall

We restore many public structures -- post offices, hotels, libraries, even churches. But most malls are too ugly to warrant such effort.

1 minute read

May 17, 2004, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"The problem ... is that there's rot in the mall's very DNA. Mall owners, far from being merchants who want to creatively engage our acquisitive urges, are simply real-estate developers trying to maximize every rental dollar, mostly by minimizing their overhead... And now these blank, lifeless exteriors are gradually decaying, with an almost Michael Jackson-like weirdness." Like the Valley Girls who made it famous, the suburban mall is now on the wrong side of forty, writes Sandra Tsing Loh in this humorous article from The Atlantic Monthly.

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Shopworn

Thursday, May 13, 2004 in The Atlantic Monthly

Community / Economic Development United States

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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