Matthew Yglesias has a smart post on “walkable urbanism” as distinguished from “living in a city”. The thrust is basically that the benefits of urban living (a walking lifestyle, conveniently located retail and restaurants, etc.) don’t necessarily have to occur within today’s major cities. With tweaks in building patterns citylife can be brought to suburbs and small towns. One example:
I think trying to build housing in shopping malls is a potentially promising idea.
My sense is that housing would change the malls in important, beneficial ways also. There would probably be an increase in restaurants and other small shops which appealed to the everyday needs of residents. Those tenants would likewise help the malls to survive downturns (like one we’re currently in) when spending on purely consumer goods plummets radically. I could see mall housing being particularly attractive to community college students who could work and live in the same structure while also experiencing a taste of the citylife their away-at-school friends are enjoying.
Tags: housing, malls, walkable urbanism
