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April 06, 2005
Shoppin' the Suburbs
If you're one of those folks who think Chattanooga looks like Disney World, just wait until we get our first lifestyle center:
This is civic life in America, circa 2005, and it's spreading. The International Council of Shopping Centers estimates that 17 more lifestyle centers are set to open this year. The Memphis-based developer Poag & McEwen coined the term in the late 1980s, but most centers have been built in the last two years, typically near affluent suburbs. They are upscale outdoor shopping areas designed to look like city streets, with an emphasis on restaurants and spaces for people-watching... There's something a bit unhealthy about faux public places designed to attract rich people and make them feel comfortable. (At least the traditional mall didn't try to hide the fact that it was a shopping center.) The lifestyle center is a bizarre outgrowth of the suburban mentality: People want public space, even if making that space private is the only way to get it.
| By mesh | 11:13 AM
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