^^ Oooh. Now Wal*Mart will be taking on a Farmer's Market Feel? WHY BUILD WALLS!? ahhahaha jks
Another example, Fastcars, is Prime Outlets in Grove City, PA (
http://www.primeoutlets.com/cntrdefa...p?cntrid=1024). I actually went shopping there in the fall when I went to Pittsburgh. It's like the old-style of Centre Mall with a pond in the middle and creeks and gondollas, etc. It was nice. It poured rain while we were there which was kind of annoying. But they actually have a trolley bus that takes shoppers around the little "town".
The sad part, however, is that Grove City itself's downtown is a piece of crap thanks to this centre.
I think Fastcars had it right when he said this trend to Big Box was to eliminate Mall Rats and concentrate on shoppers. Unfortunately, not only do these centres deter youth or whoever from hanging out, but also promotes an unhealthy lifestyle of vehicle dependancy.
Why would you want kids hanging out in your mall, going to the movie theatre, playing in the arcade when they could be hanging out on street corners thinking of things that'll keep em busy "HEY, lets go start fires!".