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If malls continue to shut down and decay over the next twenty years, someone should turn them into retirement communities for GenX and Millennials.

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.

dbx12 ,

Cool idea but lack of natural light could be an issue.

Darkassassin07 ,
@Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca avatar

Hey, that’s a benefit to some of us…

protist ,

They’ve turned one mall in my city into a community college and office space, and the other is going strong and attracting new tenants

SpaceNoodle ,

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.

cashmaggot ,

I didn't know this, on account of like not knowing a lot of land owners. But I did know one (for sure), and they had some property that unfortunately burnt down. It was more economically sound for them to keep the place an empty lot with a guard and a gate than to build something back up. I think that's naners. But also the whole situation was some kind of nanas.

I heard the same thing for landlords in the past. That having the property in any state is better than having to reinvest that cash into upkeep. So you don't particularly care about the renter's life quality, as much as you care that they keep floating money up to you and not complaining as things fall apart around them. And keeping people in crisis mode is a great way to counter any sort of counter-measures they can bring down on you. But also keeping public support organizations under-budget and overwhelmed is a solid way of sending the message "you're on your own."

I know it's kinda like a learned helplessness thing - but when everything around you is shit, and you're trying your best and just keep sinking - it's tough to fight assholes. But this is all er...my thoughts on the matter. I don't know anything definitively. Just figured they're banking that property until it's time to sell. And anything that goes into it - is money that cuts overall profits.

pelletbucket ,

they’ve already started turning them into rental units because that’s apparently the entire American economy now

MataVatnik ,
@MataVatnik@lemmy.world avatar

No God please no. I hated malls as a child, this would be some sort of fucked up psychological torture.

Rhynoplaz OP ,

That’s ok, you can still go to Shady Pines.

solsangraal ,

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

ZeffSyde ,

Whatever.

Go to Abercrombie and buy another polo shirt, conformist. /S

Varyk , (edited )

Malls are actually doing fine.

Apparently they were already shutting down the too-many-malls that there were, but there are still a few hundred and they’re doing well.

Specifically, for the reasons you’re saying, because they have a food court and arcade stations and basically our community centers, more than just shopping outlets.

It looked like all the malls were dying out because there were simply too many for the American population, but now that number’s kind of stabilized and slowly growing again.

But as for the disused ones that were built during the boom 20 years ago? sure.

They’d make good housing.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

The malls that are succeeding still are the ones that are transitioning to hosting nearly exclusively luxury and fashion stores, i.e., retailers that don’t have to compete with Wal Mart and Amazon. These are obviously only viable in areas that are fairly affluent to begin with.

Banichan ,
@Banichan@dormi.zone avatar

Can’t have residential buildings in an area zoned for commercial use.

Rhynoplaz OP ,

We got time to make it work.

dumbass ,
@dumbass@leminal.space avatar

Just right click on the area and rezone it!

possiblylinux127 ,

meanwhile, OSM was filled with bad edits

thermal_shock ,

do rezonings not happen?

Melatonin ,

It’ll be just like “Dawn of the Dead”

I_Fart_Glitter ,

As is often mentioned, the plumbing situation makes this somewhat untenable.

But, as the world warms and outdoor recreation becomes impossible, I think they could be repurposed into indoor recreation centers, not that different from a regular mall, just less focused on shopping and more on fun and exercise.

Rhynoplaz OP ,

Pssh! That’ll NEVER sell!

owenfromcanada ,
@owenfromcanada@lemmy.world avatar

But what if it were a subscription service? And we can add AI for no reason!

Sibbo ,

Imagine how much money you could make by ripping off retired people who cannot leave the mall anymore due to old age.

Not that I would endorse this. Combining retirement homes with retail sounds dangerous for the retired.

JoMiran ,
@JoMiran@lemmy.ml avatar

In Austin (when I lived there) the main mall finally closed down in the 2Ks. It was obvious that nobody was going to pick it up so the city turned it into an Austin Community College campus.

elbucho ,
@elbucho@lemmy.world avatar

God, imagine living in a retirement community that has a Hot Topic.

Carrolade ,

This is now my favorite housing idea ever.

cashmaggot ,

I've thought about this a lot, on account of infinite people having an insane amount of trouble just keeping consistent shelter over their heads. My gal had suggested this as a means for the homeless. I know that right now malls are being lent out to many individual small organizations (namely churches as far as I know it). But I am not sure this is sustainable as a whole. Due to maintenance costs, hazardous situations like mold and lack of privacy.

I also think about how people keep saying cost of living is why people aren't having kids. But I have lived in multiple places that were once a much larger living space that had been jankily peacemealed into several much smaller apartments. I am a human that enjoys having space of my own, even if it's micro in nature. I can't imagine I am alone in that. And I don't believe people will want to further invest in divvying up spaces in malls. At least, unless they're getting kickbacks. And they'll probably do it in the worst of ways. Leading to spaces that will be barely sound and fast to degrade but slow to fix. I mean shelter is super duper important. But I swear to god your surroundings can affect your mental state. And when you're wedged together in a decaying mold filled building with a bunch of aging individuals facing a slew of different health-issues it'll probably deteriorate your wellness faster than if we tore the places down and utilized some sort of cheap eco-friendly building material/robo-builder to assist making healthier homes.

Also mind you, I don't think we're gunna have beautiful low-income or middle-income homes if the greige, vinyl, orange-peel, chrome take-over points towards anything.

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