Thoughts on Strip Malls

Both readers of this blog are likely aware of my thoughts regarding strip malls, particularly the monstrosity of a strip mall that is located on Crawfordsville Rd., roughly between Lynhurst and High School Rd.

Local attorney and law professor Paul Ogden had a recent blog post that nicely encapsulates the problem with malls in general. Rather than try to repeat the general point, here is a snippet:

The structure that is the mall, as well as the large parking lots surrounding the building, consume a considerable amount of real estate.  When those malls fail, they become extremely difficult to repurpose.  They often end up being a blight on the neighborhood for years. 

If this was the only problem with malls and strip malls, it would be a huge problem. However, problems abound:

It would appear that in searching for gimmicks to drive foot traffic to the retail stores, mall owners are fighting a losing battle.   With the exception of certain consumer items, consumers prefer the convenience of shopping from the convenience of their homes.  That is a niche that Amazon has cornered, although even that company faces growing competition when it comes to online retail.

But as one looks to the future of retail, one wonders if even the Amazon model might be outdated.  The Amazon approach right now is for wholesalers and manufacturers to ship goods to the company which it then stores in incredibly large "fulfillment centers."  Then when a customer orders the item from the Amazon website, it gets shipped once again, this time to the customer.  Amazon became popular because it enhanced customer convenience by eliminating the need to visit a brick and mortar store to shop.  But the Amazon retail approach, which requires considerable overhead, doesn't provide much in the way of cost savings to the consumer.  Eventually Amazon may be replaced with a web-based shopping approach that links customers with wholesalers and manufacturers so that items may be purchased directly, saving consumers a substantial amount of money while cutting out brick-and-mortar online retailers such as Amazon. 

While I don't have any unifying theories as to how to address the immediate problem of post-mall blight, suffice it to say that this is a problem that can't be indefinitely ignored. The sooner we start considering possible solutions, the better.

UPDATE:

While I generally try to avoid comment sections if I can, this caught my attention:

Anyone with a mind only functioning at half-speed understands the day of the big mall passed long ago. That the billionaire Simon family was allowed to walk away from its aging, dilapated, increasingly vacant Washington Square with the effective outcome of saddling the City and Her taxpayers with an ugly architectural and financially losing behemoth is a crime against the east side, the City of Indianapolis, and human decency in general. 

Anyone with a mind only functioning at half-speed also understands Castleton is the new Lafayette Square and I can only surmise from the lessons of history that Castleton Square Mall will one day in the not too distant future look exactly like the monstrosity beached near W. 38th Street and Lafayette Road.

Sometimes all you can do is tip your cap. Thank you, to the anonymous poster who made this comment.