Baudrillard couldn't be happier

April 6, 2005 8:06 PM

Lifestyle centersare open-air malls designed to look like an urban street or a contemporary residential area. But don't be fooled. Among the activities not allowed in the center are: excessive staring or taking photos, video or audio recording of any store, product, employee, customer or officer. Oh, and "non-commercial expressive activity" is not allowed either. Hopefully, that doesn't include talking.
posted by Tlahtolli (37 comments total)

If a mall can become a "lifestyle center" there's really no stopping me referring to excrement as "personally processed food", now, is there?
posted by clevershark at 8:14 PM on April 6, 2005

Duly horrified.

My one faint hope is that people might actually somehow realize they like the dense, eclectic urban "lifestyle" and begin to seek it out in their everyday lives, not only on Sunday shopping trips. The hope is very faint, of course - it would require not only that people enjoy the "lifestyle center" but also that they experience the nagging feeling that something vital is missing there (i.e. genuine vibrancy, diversity, spontaneity, etc.). I regret to say that I do not regard most North Americans' powers of discernment quite that highly.

Our senses have been dulled to the point that we would rather be sold a "lifestyle" than actually live a life.
posted by Urban Hermit at 8:31 PM on April 6, 2005

I have one of these going in down the street from my house (Gilbert, Arizona) - meant to be similar to nearby Kierland Commons, which was mentioned in the article.

And if they think I won't be down there excessively staring at somebody, well then they've got another thing coming.

!Viva la revolucion!
posted by 27 at 8:33 PM on April 6, 2005

Couldn't they just have, and I know this is a crazy idea, but couldn't you just have urban streets that resemble urban streets, rather than building subtle malls?
posted by drezdn at 8:39 PM on April 6, 2005

Great! Another way to get to my closest Gap or Pottery Barn! There aren't nearly enough of 'em. If they only throw in a Home Depot, an Old Navy, and a Blockbuster, I would never have to leave my suburban enclave and mix with those Other People!

*sigh* I live so close to places this is happening. I am so glad to be able to shop in the independent shops here in Glendale. I know exactly where my money is going.
posted by kamikazegopher at 8:42 PM on April 6, 2005

Meanwhile all the authentic shopping districts have been co-opted by the chains driving out all of the boutiques and stores with character. To quote Damon Albarn, "All the High Streets look the same."

There's an open air mall in Cary, NC that is designed too look like a revitalized warehouse district, replete with labels and signs painted on the brick and then sandblasted off.

The new Wegmans in Fairfax, VA has a pseudo European open-air market feel straight out of a Vegas hotel. It really is straight out of a Baudrillard wet dream.

sigh.

on preview: drezdn, urban streets aren't "safe" places in most people's minds. It is really sad.
posted by shoepal at 8:43 PM on April 6, 2005

This is precisely why I will never live in a city that has less than 300,000 residents.
posted by cmonkey at 8:45 PM on April 6, 2005

Aren't downtown streets what mall shoppers are desperately trying to avoid?

Going to one of these soulless mass-market monsters instead of shopping on a real street is an awful lot like spending your nights living virtually through The Sims instead of going out and actually living. Of course you can always go the extra step towards making your life entirely faked and packaged by going to a Lifestyle Center (tm) and purchasing a copy of The Urbz (it being 2005 and all).
posted by clevershark at 8:47 PM on April 6, 2005

The hope is very faint, of course - it would require ... that they experience the nagging feeling that something vital is missing there (i.e. genuine vibrancy, diversity, spontaneity, etc.). I regret to say that I do not regard most North Americans' powers of discernment quite that highly.

Even if people "experience a nagging feeling" that something's missing, that doesn't mean anything in particular will change. The bland wins because no one hates it, not because anyone loves it.

well, some of us hate it. But apparently not enough.
posted by mdn at 8:51 PM on April 6, 2005

So, if Broadway between Canal and Houston has a Pottery Barn, a Crate & Barrel, a Gap, and a Banana Republic, does it count as authentic urban lifestyle, or is it the simulacrum of a real-life exurban lifestyle center?
posted by muckster at 8:56 PM on April 6, 2005

muckster, SoHo isn't alone. Georgetown (DC), Newberry St. (Boston), King St. (Charleston), et al. all pretty much have the same interchangeable tenants.

Northern Virginia has these monstrosities they call TownCenters^tm where they plop shoddy, architecturally benign gated apartment complexes behind a urban facade strip mall and pretend it is hip, urban and pedestrian friendly. Gee! You mean I can walk to the Pottery Barn when I'm out of milk?! ugh.
posted by shoepal at 9:16 PM on April 6, 2005

Even if it's looming and vaguely Orwellian in its greater concepts, is there any room for a few teeth-gritting claps of applause in appreciation of some sort of attempt in character?

I struggle with this, since I *do* hate new shopping centers (most new building things, in fact). However, I usually hate them because they're dull and soulless and leave nothing noteworthy once their gimmick has played out. This is soulless too, but at least they're putting effort into a bit of development instead of completely homogenized shopping cubes and a big parking lot, even if it is in hopes of the almighty dollar's blessing.
posted by redsparkler at 9:35 PM on April 6, 2005

Well this makes sense for sure. Since private ownership is better than public it was bound to happen: private ownership of our cities and towns has begun. One day we need not bother with electing mayors and such, no need to concern ourselves with messy local politics. Everything will be taken care of by wise and benevolent Managers appointed by The Corporation (tm).
posted by scheptech at 9:39 PM on April 6, 2005

I just hope it doesn't become a trend. What does it say about our culture? That through something completely fake and man-made the real can be experienced? Shopping has become more than going to a store, purchasing what you need, and walking out. Now everything has to be "experienced". You know, it's like the guys that drive huge cars to compensate for their lack of manhood. What loss are we trying to compensate for? How can we fix that?
posted by Tlahtolli at 9:40 PM on April 6, 2005

kamikazegopher

Um, Glendale isn't immune.

FWIW, I live within spitting distance of one of these "lifestyle centers" -- The Grove -- and I must admit, aside from the traffic it's made the neighborhood better. There's a pristine movie theater now within walking distance, more shops and restaurants to choose from. And not all of them your typical "box stores." Lots of independents are popping up on Fairfax and Third.
posted by herc at 9:45 PM on April 6, 2005

We had one of these open up in Pittsburgh a few months ago. I was just there. I went to a proto-Borders to buy a new Moleskine® notebook. Ya, really. Sure, it feels a little presumptuous to buy them, but they're good notebooks, you know. The place I usually get them has been out for weeks, so I'm still hip, okay. I just needed a new notebook.

The sign in the window of the soon-to-be American Eagle store said "lifestyle center", which reminded me of the English you might see on the side of a building of shops in Tokyo... in other words, some meaningless marketing neologism. I didn't know it was an actual term.

It's okay. AFAIK it replaced derelict warehouses on the riverfront, so it's an improvement in that sense. There is already a bustling main street a little further down the road, and I don't see the more eclectic shops there falling under to the national chains at the Lifestyle Center. They may complement each other, in fact. Hopefully people who come in to visit the mall stores will take a trip down the street and visit the bars and restaurants there.

I'm not certain that their Kenneth Cole store is especially close to the demographic that most wants to shop at a Kenneth Cole store. Their Cheesecake Factory, however, which is tarted up like the palace in Disney's Aladdin, seems to be doing a brisk business.

If you decide to visit this place, know that the blocks are studded with about eight or nine fireplugs a piece. Parking is an exercise in repeated sudden disappointment.
posted by tss at 10:03 PM on April 6, 2005

So don't SHOP there.
posted by HTuttle at 10:09 PM on April 6, 2005

no you fools! don't you know renewing blighted areas and commerce IS WRONG?
posted by keswick at 10:15 PM on April 6, 2005

There's one of them in Salt Lake City - two stories, with walkways on the second level, so that it's sort of like a canyon, where the walls aren't stone but, rather, mall-stores. It's the Main Mall at the Gateway Complex, although the pictures don't really show the part of the place I'm talking about. I will give "lifeway centers" this much - the fact that they're open to the sky makes them feel much less oppressive than normal malls. Sure, they're pathetic mockeries of real town centers, but at least they're not quite as visually bland as normal malls - they're not huge boxes and, if they're like the Utah one, they're not surrounded by asphalt seas, either.

[Real urban areas are still better, though.]
posted by ubersturm at 10:16 PM on April 6, 2005

Herc: I think kamikazegopher was referring to Glendale, AZ. But I could be wrong...

Since private ownership is better than public it was bound to happen: private ownership of our cities and towns has begun. One day we need not bother with electing mayors and such, no need to concern ourselves with messy local politics. Everything will be taken care of by wise and benevolent Managers appointed by The Corporation (tm).

I think you're missing the point here. The author is saying that these things look like public spaces, but they're in fact private. As in, private just like the mall, or private just like my property for that matter. I might put a picnic table on my front lawn and encourage anyone to use it under most circmstances. If I say they can't deface it, am I being subversive or privatizing a "public" space (that I would in fact own and pay taxes on, etc.) . I respect public spaces an the freedoms that go along with it. But I also respect the right of someone who paid for, developed, marketed, and sold space on their property to set some rules on that property to. And just because it has a sidewalk around it, doesn't mean it's a betrayal. Caveat stroller.

Most city space is made up of private property. So in that regard I don't think there's anything new or really subversive going on here. The only difference between these places and the "urban downtown areas" touted by others in this thread is that the three feet of sidewalk you're strolling down *might* be public instead of private.

Hey - metafilter appears to be public too. Anyone can join. Anyone can comment and post. But cross the line and you're getting deleted or tossed. This is the same thing - mall-style.

Personally, I don't see this as such a big deal. People who dig this type of place will go, people who don't won't. As somebody who'll have one of these in my neighborhood soon, I don't really give a shit as long as it provides a boost to my property value. And by all accounts, it will.
posted by 27 at 10:23 PM on April 6, 2005

Reminds me Toronto, pretty much as a whole.

/Vancouverite

Then again, Kensington square was pretty cool, if only for the non-caring of cross-dressing.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 10:34 PM on April 6, 2005

The suckers that will heartily endorse this are those who have not experienced the pleasure of a real car free urban area like those common in European cities. Curbside parking? What a bunch of shite. So the pedestrians still get to experience the joys of inhaling exhaust without the freedom to stare, photograph and express themselves.

Its a great boon to whomever controls these spaces. They can decide who gets to express themselves, and how they do it. Perhaps it will be okay for the anti-this people to campaign, but not the pro-that. Suddenly "urban life" because a 24/7 Bush rally where you can be kicked out because someone dislikes your bumper sticker.

Alas, I love buildings, the more complex the better. I suspect I would enjoy such spaces. It's just a thing of mine, I also like airports. But I don't like giving up real public space, and I don't like the loss of local retail character. I'm old enough to remember when towns were really different, one from another.
posted by Goofyy at 11:04 PM on April 6, 2005

Reminds me Toronto, pretty much as a whole.

Uh, PurplePorpoise, what part of Toronto did you go to? Because I have no idea what you're talking about.

The West Edmonton Mall has much more of the simulacrum than anywhere I've been in Toronto. Mall meets theme park. Mall as theme park. It had fake streets before any of these "lifestyle centres" had been thought of.
posted by SoftRain at 11:27 PM on April 6, 2005

kamikazegopher: Great! Another way to get to my closest Gap or Pottery Barn! There aren't nearly enough of 'em. If they only throw in a Home Depot, an Old Navy, and a Blockbuster, I would never have to leave my suburban enclave and mix with those Other People!

I work at a re-modeled indoor mall. They're just finishing the exterior walkway (modeled after these lifestyle centers) and putting up the last facade. There's an Old Navy, an LA Fitness Center, and a dayspa all right in a row. Also, at an annexed site down the street a bit they just installed the latest plug-in Home Depot and Target. It's interesting to see how totally suburbanization rules all decision making. These outdoor palaces are obviously the rage, even in super-hot climates like Tucson and Gilbert/PHX metro. A mainly outdoor ultra-swanky lifestyle center just went up in the Catalina Foothills area here, and all the asphalt-only SUVs shop there now. Nice not having them in town as much.

Our management made the mistake of mentioning a while back that the mall cheese wants the place referred to as a "Lifestyle Enhancement Center," and NOT (emphasis theirs) a mall. Now I have a good chuckle watching the wary/confused look creep over a customer's face every time I tell 'em they're not in a mall.
posted by carsonb at 12:40 AM on April 7, 2005

I just hope it doesn't become a trend. What does it say about our culture?

What culture? This is American culture.
posted by cmacleod at 4:48 AM on April 7, 2005

I wish that more cities in the U.S. would have pedestrian malls like ones they have in, for example, Copenhagen, which was really amazing. However, having visited a "lifestyle center", it just seems so pre-fab and fake. What's the point when you have a huge parking lot right next to it and have all the same chain stores as any other suburban mall in the country?
posted by gyc at 5:01 AM on April 7, 2005

They're popping up like weeds in Northern VA. One of them, on the orange line in the Clarendon section of Arlington, sports condos that supposedly sell in the $million range. It's the happening place to live. And very few, if any, pan-handlers, now that I think about it.
posted by crunchland at 5:26 AM on April 7, 2005

Shoepal:I can't really critique the architecture(although, like every supermarket it seems to have horrible lighting), but I quite like the new Wegmans in Fairfax. There's a lot of things I could nitpick it for but, ultimately, it's a business that treats its employees well and it probably introduces consumers to a higher quality of goods than they might have had before. Oh, and it has underground/multilevel parking, which makes a lot of sense for this area. There's plenty of businesses in the area I'd pick on before Wegmans.

Incidentally, since you're probably familiar with it, would that development-I think it's called Fairfax Corner-with that huge Cinema De Lux movie theater off of Rt 66... would that be considered a "lifestyle center"?
posted by MjrMjr at 5:40 AM on April 7, 2005

I can't say the shopping is really a problem, but I have to agree that it seems like folks like the socialization (however brief) that comes from actually leaving their McMansions and being around Other People. that's good. the problem, as far as I'm concerned, is that most major cities are so spread out and lacking in public transit, that this isn't possible on an actual lifestyle scale.

as far as the Soussaiwers .. er, SouthSide Works .. in Pittsburgh, well duh.. what else is going to anchor this hellhole but an overpriced generic yet decadent eatery? Cheesecake Factory is HIGH CLASS 'round these parts, y'know. There's already big box enclaves to each cardinal direction, and it's not like the roads around the sousside (nor anywhere else) can handle the traffic. Add to that the Waterfront being inaccessable after the High Level bridge is repaired to a non-perilous state Real Soon Now, and retail therapy is going to be DIFFICULT 'round these parts.

Thank God for a job that lets me see the world on their time and mine -- after spending a week in Hong Kong last month, I'm not sure any shopping "concept" will ever impress me.
posted by kcm at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2005

Yeah, we have one of these lifestyle centers in Philly too, it's called Kama Sutra.
posted by j.p. Hung at 6:30 AM on April 7, 2005

MjrMjr, I wasn't really picking on Weggies. They are a great company and do good things for the community (or so I hear), I just found the simulacra of a European market setting (on the left as you walk in) to be very, well, Vegas in its perpetual dusk state.

On the plus side, my suburb-loving sister can now walk to get milk and essentials, something she's never had the pleasure of doing. Although, of course she has to cross a 4 lane suburban "street."
posted by shoepal at 8:22 AM on April 7, 2005

They just open the door for creating alternative spaces that REQUIRE excessive staring and taking photos, video and audio recording of every store, product, employee, customer and officer.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:18 AM on April 7, 2005

If y'all think THAT's bad, here in Louisville the City turned an actual downtown street into one of those. I'm referring of course to "4th Street Live!" It's got everything! On weekend evenings the private security guards (sometimes even real rent-a-cops) block the street off to emphasize that the corporations have control, and that it really is safe for suburbanites and/or tourists to roar their SUVs downtown, really! (And I thought Harborplace and Ghirardelli Square were bad enough.)

The funny thing is, this town's full of REAL restaurants, REAL nightclubs, REAL bowling alleys and so on; REAL urban streets have no monopoly on those either, they even have 'em in the REAL suburbs!
posted by davy at 9:33 AM on April 7, 2005

But keswick, where they put "4th Street Live!" wasn't blighted: in the '90s it was a REAL mall!

Actually this town amazes me with its lack of "blight". Even the "slums" here have grass and trees, with songbirds (like cardinals, not just pigeons) and wildlife (squirrels and possums and rabbits). Try that in East Baltimore or the Tenderloin.
posted by davy at 9:49 AM on April 7, 2005

They made a mall that lets you see the sky and feel the breeze!? What fiends!

They're malls. With air. Get over it.
posted by NortonDC at 6:36 PM on April 7, 2005

There's something a bit unhealthy about faux public places designed to attract rich people and make them feel comfortable. (At least the traditional mall didn't try to hide the fact that it was a shopping center.) The lifestyle center is a bizarre outgrowth of the suburban mentality: People want public space, even if making that space private is the only way to get it.

Says it all.
posted by squirrel at 6:41 PM on April 7, 2005

Their Cheesecake Factory, however, which is tarted up like the palace in Disney's Aladdin, seems to be doing a brisk business.

I like to call the one at Legacy Village ("village"? who are they kidding?) the "Byzantine whorehouse." But that's just me.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 4:52 AM on April 8, 2005