Imagine apartments built into what used to be department stores, (Oh, you’re JC Penny 203? I’m at Sears 106). Get those old arcades up and running. Set up meal stations at the food court. Once people actually live there, stores will start to move back in.
If I’m unable to finish my life in my own home, that doesn’t sound like a terrible option.
Not even renovated, just set me up in a hot topic.
Can’t. The goth kids burned it down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OvUDHpPgb4
Dibs on Spencers!
Have you been in a Spencer’s recently? Remember the skeezy area in the back? That’s now the whole thing.
Spensors was always an excuse to put a sex toy store in a shopping mall.
Last time I was in one it was all Blacklights and shit that was cool when you were stoned lol.
Spensors was always an excuse to put a sex toy store in a shopping mall.
As a millennial I can tell you that most millennials I know wouldn’t want this but instead make it a place for none corporation and community events and such. A public place where your not forced to buy things where can just exist with others even if you have zero money and accessible to all genders and disabilities and races.
And yes retrofit part of it for people who need to get back on there feet, and homeless people.
If we could retrofit them into homeless shelters we could but it would require rebuilding mostly everything as malls are designed for stores not housing people (for instance the bathrooms are not private and not easily accessible if you live somewhere in it)
I know it’s hard to imagine since you’ve pretty much got to pay to exist anywhere today, but malls were a place to just exist. I spent hours and hours wandering around the mall in the eighties without any money.
Expanding on the thought, it was perfectly ok to be, get this, a TEENAGER existing without any money in a mall!
In my country malls were never this. When I was young several malls, specially high end ones, banned unaccompanied teenagers during weekdays and at certain hours. Also, fuck malls with absolutely no seating or resting spaces outside of the food court. I hope they all go broke and get demolished.
Might also depend on the timing. At least in the 90s, my area was as described, a hangout place where ambient hanging out was considered just fine because enough people bought stuff it was worth it and people behaved relatively well, or they had enough security to make that the case.
Now there’s all sorts of signs up about unaccompanied teenagers are not allowed.
Also, fuck malls with absolutely no seating or resting spaces outside of the food court.
Sounds like EU got work to do
I have no respect for people with no shopping agenda
In a city in my country there was an old mall that was slowly taken over by bands who used the spaces as rehearsal rooms. It gained a huge following including some local big bands and concerts. They all paid rent too. Unfortunately, early this year, they were evicted by the owner and City Hall, out of nowhere and are on its way to become airbnb’s for tourists…
Nothing new…
Yesss, give us community spaces that are not designed around maximizing profits.
mall walks!
Stahp, I’m not even 40 yet.
And you won’t be able to retire in 20 years, or 30, maybe 40, if you’re lucky
This sounds like such bad idea. Just demolish them.
As a millenial, all I want is the LAN party old folks home.
That would be really good, but this idea has been explored and unfortunately it is only viable on a very narrow amount of buildings. Most malls aren’t properly built to be housing and the costs of adapting them for housing exceed the cost of just building new housing elsewhere. And the costs of tearing it down and rebuilding are even greater. Overall, Malls are economic net negatives for communities, all single use infrastructure constructions are.
I’m down and claiming the candy store in 113!
Instead of puzzles and bingo night, we’re having GoldenEye tournaments and D&D night!
No Oddjob!
That’s just assumed. Sign me up for the Pistols: License to Kill league.
I’ll take a Payless Shoes. Usually at one of the ends, sort of tucked away. Good bit of space, and quick access to the parking lot.
Oh yeah, like 90% of that parking lot can get repurposed into a park. Throw a bus stop in there.
Knock these things down and plant trees and stuff.
While we’re at it knock all the corporate 9to5 office work buildings where all the employees can work from home and plant trees and stuff there too.
Trees and ponds and natural parks and shit, hiking trails…etc.
It’s funny you think millenials can afford to retire at 60
We have to get it ready for the Xers first, then we can start to move in once we hit 86 or so.
Nah. Vaporwave themed laser tag arenas. Let’s go.
If my retirement home has Dance Dance Revolution, I may just have to get myself a new hip.
Gotta stay active!
Maybe 10 or so years ago, was a real push to convert old malls into apartments or low income housing. Turns out it’s not that easy. Those buildings were built with minimal plumbing, just a few public restrooms and limited water service for the food court. There’s just not enough water/sewer to supply more than a small handful of apartments. You’d have to tear up significant portions of the building to run all new plumbing for all the kitchens & bathrooms. And that assumes the underlying city infrastructure that runs to the mall could even support the new water & sewage demands in the first place.
I’ll grant you, it is a cool idea. It’s just not nearly as simple as it sounds.
They tore down the big, stagnating mall a few minutes from my place years ago. It’s still a big, empty lot.
This would have been a much better and surely most cost-effective solution. Instead, we’re probably eventually gonna get another soulless office park in spite of dwindling demand.
when internet still basically consisted of angelfire and geocities (yes, even before myspace), we used to go to the mall and pester the goth kids smoking cigarettes by the mall entrances who were there because they also had nothing else to do
Whatever.
Go to Abercrombie and buy another polo shirt, conformist. /S
