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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.

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.

aubeynarf ,

you have to go all the way down below the dirt to prep a site for residential units. With a toilet, shower, and sink per unit, the density of sewer and water plumbing is much higher than commercial. Fire codes also demand egress points (a.k.a. windows) for every bedroom - hard to do Inside a big box retail space.

j4k3 ,
@j4k3@lemmy.world avatar

Also the weight for housing is much higher than the structure is designed for with large open space retail. If the thing didn’t collapse, it would probably sink into the ground enough to cause problems.

Now, if one could find a way to replace the department store footprints with housing, and have the mall corridor administered by a municipal authority without some criminal venture capital thief, something like this could be a great way to create practical compact and walkable living spaces. We need stuff like this, but no one in real estate can act in good faith with long term sustainability. Quarterly return vampires are too deep into their suicide run to handle sustainable life goals, even if the doors fall off mid flight.

idiomaddict ,

Is a mall on Black Friday ( in the mall heyday) really lighter than a residence of the same footprint? Or is the average weight over time more important than a dozen hours every once in a while?

j4k3 ,
@j4k3@lemmy.world avatar

The more open a floor plan appears, where there are not large support columns, the lower the weight bearing capacity will be in general.

With something like modern skyscrapers that appear to have open floor plans, there is a massive structure somewhere within the design. The structure is usually in the center built around the elevators and stairs, although there are other methods too. This structure is engineered for the specific loads of each floor and the total structure, along with various environmental factors such as weather. Like all structures, this starts with a foundation that is large enough for the designed load with a small margin of safety added. The cost of the foundation is directly related to the weight bearing capacity. No one is building structures with substantial extra unused capacity. Likewise, people like the aesthetics of open indoor spaces. This involves designing a structure with the minimal amount of load bearing capacity so that it does not need support columns throughout for the roof and upper floors. This particular aesthetic constraint means that the total load bearing capacity of department stores is very close to what you see in a typical store. If you start adding a bunch of walls and furniture to subdivide this space, there us absolutely no chance that the structure could handle the load. Even if you would like to add support columns, the foundation is engineered for the load. You can’t reinforce something like this in a cost effective way. The size and depth of the pad, rebar density and structure all must be substantially different. You’re likely to need piles or other features that tie in the structure to deeper bedrock elements of the underlying earth.

idiomaddict ,

I guess I’m picturing a mall with lots of support beams in the stores themselves, but not many in the hallways. I wonder if my local mall growing up was originally built for a different purpose. I can’t really picture any other malls, but I’ll keep an eye out when I visit a different one.

SendMePhotos ,

Bet you’re real fun on renovation shows…

idiomaddict ,

…I want someone like them working on every single renovation

lemmefixdat4u ,

How do earth-sheltered homes comply? I’ve seen a few, and they have no windows in most of the rooms, including bedrooms. And there’s a few who’ve taken to living in caves, old mines, and decommissioned missile silos. There must be an exception to this code.

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.

dustyData ,

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.

TootSweet ,

Stahp, I’m not even 40 yet.

Matt Damon gets older meme

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

Nah. Vaporwave themed laser tag arenas. Let’s go.

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…

LostWanderer ,

I would love to see this kind of repurposing of properties to be far more common! Malls tend to be fairly central, so they make ideal locations for being nearby everything a person could need in a residential setting.

Guadin ,
@Guadin@k.fe.derate.me avatar

This isn't a too shabby of an idea. It probably won't be used but a mix of stores and homes in one building sounds great.

dan1101 ,

That would be a cool place to live to me.

Rhaedas ,

The idea of apartments centered around a grocery plaza has been a thing for a while. It's almost an answer, except it still requires transportation to everything else. Plus the stores tend to be higher prices to support the cost of property and because they can.

Kaboom ,

Add a metro station, a large parking garage, should work

verdantbanana ,
@verdantbanana@lemmy.world avatar

mall walks!

mp3 ,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

With those moving walkways you see in airports.

GeekFTW ,

I’m down and claiming the candy store in 113!

Rhynoplaz OP ,

Instead of puzzles and bingo night, we’re having GoldenEye tournaments and D&D night!

blackluster117 ,
@blackluster117@possumpat.io avatar

No Oddjob!

Rhynoplaz OP ,

That’s just assumed. Sign me up for the Pistols: License to Kill league.

Carrolade ,

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.

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