One thing I dislike about this new trend is it supplants true community spaces. There is a downtown in the suburb I live in now but it is a place no one other than junkies and homeless go. A few business cling to life there but I don't know how since there is no foot traffic.
Some development company created one of these outdoor malls about 10 minutes outside of the downtown. It has a cinema, a few big box stores (including a Walmart super-center). They even got it right with mostly underground parking giving the outdoor mall a high-level of walkability between stores that have fronts directly on the wide side walks. The security keeps all of the undesirables away and there is a public playground for kids. It's like the commercial equivalent of a gated community. I find it unsettling and I wish we took public money to revitalize the downtown rather than creating these segregated spaces.
Some development company created one of these outdoor malls about 10 minutes outside of the downtown. It has a cinema, a few big box stores (including a Walmart super-center). They even got it right with mostly underground parking giving the outdoor mall a high-level of walkability between stores that have fronts directly on the wide side walks. The security keeps all of the undesirables away and there is a public playground for kids. It's like the commercial equivalent of a gated community. I find it unsettling and I wish we took public money to revitalize the downtown rather than creating these segregated spaces.