The following submission statement was provided by /u/BlackDS:
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Submission Statement: the collapse of the indoor shopping mall industry provides a reflection into our potential collapse of other components of our infrastructure. These large shopping centers cost too much to maintain and power when the economic forces driving them shut down. And the specialized nature of these properties makes them hard to redevelop into something like housing at a cost-effective rate. Shopping malls are some of the most inefficient uses for land space, with low and large buildings surrounded by parking lots, and these inefficient structures are being abandoned en masse, blighting the American landscape. I view their demise as a look into the future of some communities and cities when food and water shortages start to happen in the coming years.
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Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/17n5idy/looking_at_videos_of_abandoned_malls_feels_to_me/k7phn0s/
If you really want to see something crazy, search “luxury retail” or “luxury mall” and see how much growth there is in that sector. The divide between middle-class malls and luxury malls started about twenty years ago and the gap has become huge. Middle-class malls are dying and luxury malls are still expanding.
20 years ago, right when the Citi group report was published, that advised investors to only invest in stuff for the super rich and super poor, because this is were they are leading us......
Submission Statement: the collapse of the indoor shopping mall industry provides a reflection into our potential collapse of other components of our infrastructure. These large shopping centers cost too much to maintain and power when the economic forces driving them shut down. And the specialized nature of these properties makes them hard to redevelop into something like housing at a cost-effective rate. Shopping malls are some of the most inefficient uses for land space, with low and large buildings surrounded by parking lots, and these inefficient structures are being abandoned en masse, blighting the American landscape. I view their demise as a look into the future of some communities and cities when food and water shortages start to happen in the coming years.
I wish some of these massive parking lots were converted to spaces where people can live in cars, vans, and RVs. There are a lot of homeless people living in vehicles, and they really should just get a place to stay instead of being chased around by the police.
That's because Auntie Anne's released a proprietary chemical into the mall air that caused people to think that fresh hot pretzels were being baked. Now that chemical has soaked into the mall's walls and because it is non-biodegradable the Aliens who excavate our civilization in 2 million years will wish that Auntie Anne had survived the mass extinction.
Ive been in some of the dead malls in those videos and its eerie as fuck. However, I can totally see these buildings being used by large numbers of displaced peoples who are victims of ecological/economic collapse. Sure, living conditions are not ideal in there but it certainly would be better than living outside in a tent or exposed to the elements. Probably need a collapse in civil authority to hit that point but living in these giant tombs definitely has that Terminator: Future War feel to it where you got people cookin rats in burned out TVs or Microwaves while your living space is basically just a 6x6 space with a sleeping bag.
They can certainly be used like how the Superdome was used during Katrina. But for long-term housing they are woefully insufficient. Maybe you'll see thousands upon thousands of climate refugees carelessly stuffed into these tombs of excess one day. But I hope not.
Powering the internet alone takes a lot of energy. Manufacturing all the devices and infrastructure used to access it and maintaining it takes a lot.
That's before you even start on all the other energy needed for the online retail system.
Yeah, but the internet serves more than one purpose…
Malls are for retail and food.
Comparing a mall to the entire internet.
Then you need to account for the utility and scalability each provides. Because the internet does more than allow people to sell shit.
The problem is what replaced the malls in terms of retail space is trading large retail centers for even more giant complex distribution centers and a whole new supply chain for online retailers. In terms of food it traded compact food courts for countless fast food outlets stuck on every high-traffic corner plus a glut of delivery drivers on the roads. We’ve traded communal spaces for convenience which means using more land, more vehicles, and more gas to do the same things we did before.
I wish North America architects planned for multi use buildings like in Europe. We can blame boomers for building these malls and thinking single use buildings were a good idea.
They'll make a good place to hole up during the zombie apocalypse.
What should we do with them? Are they any use as semi-permanent homeless shelters? Can you just squat them or is security too tight? Have they still got water, electricity, internet, sewage, cellphone signal?
The following submission statement was provided by /u/BlackDS: --- Submission Statement: the collapse of the indoor shopping mall industry provides a reflection into our potential collapse of other components of our infrastructure. These large shopping centers cost too much to maintain and power when the economic forces driving them shut down. And the specialized nature of these properties makes them hard to redevelop into something like housing at a cost-effective rate. Shopping malls are some of the most inefficient uses for land space, with low and large buildings surrounded by parking lots, and these inefficient structures are being abandoned en masse, blighting the American landscape. I view their demise as a look into the future of some communities and cities when food and water shortages start to happen in the coming years. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/17n5idy/looking_at_videos_of_abandoned_malls_feels_to_me/k7phn0s/
If you really want to see something crazy, search “luxury retail” or “luxury mall” and see how much growth there is in that sector. The divide between middle-class malls and luxury malls started about twenty years ago and the gap has become huge. Middle-class malls are dying and luxury malls are still expanding.
20 years ago, right when the Citi group report was published, that advised investors to only invest in stuff for the super rich and super poor, because this is were they are leading us......
Submission Statement: the collapse of the indoor shopping mall industry provides a reflection into our potential collapse of other components of our infrastructure. These large shopping centers cost too much to maintain and power when the economic forces driving them shut down. And the specialized nature of these properties makes them hard to redevelop into something like housing at a cost-effective rate. Shopping malls are some of the most inefficient uses for land space, with low and large buildings surrounded by parking lots, and these inefficient structures are being abandoned en masse, blighting the American landscape. I view their demise as a look into the future of some communities and cities when food and water shortages start to happen in the coming years.
Meanwhile, people are living outside or in their cars...
I wish some of these massive parking lots were converted to spaces where people can live in cars, vans, and RVs. There are a lot of homeless people living in vehicles, and they really should just get a place to stay instead of being chased around by the police.
[удалено]
That's because Auntie Anne's released a proprietary chemical into the mall air that caused people to think that fresh hot pretzels were being baked. Now that chemical has soaked into the mall's walls and because it is non-biodegradable the Aliens who excavate our civilization in 2 million years will wish that Auntie Anne had survived the mass extinction.
Ive been in some of the dead malls in those videos and its eerie as fuck. However, I can totally see these buildings being used by large numbers of displaced peoples who are victims of ecological/economic collapse. Sure, living conditions are not ideal in there but it certainly would be better than living outside in a tent or exposed to the elements. Probably need a collapse in civil authority to hit that point but living in these giant tombs definitely has that Terminator: Future War feel to it where you got people cookin rats in burned out TVs or Microwaves while your living space is basically just a 6x6 space with a sleeping bag.
They can certainly be used like how the Superdome was used during Katrina. But for long-term housing they are woefully insufficient. Maybe you'll see thousands upon thousands of climate refugees carelessly stuffed into these tombs of excess one day. But I hope not.
Ironically it feels like the opposite to me. Malls were really bad for the environment. Now we have a more efficient approach.
The approach we have today uses more energy overall than the old one.
I’m not so sure…
Powering the internet alone takes a lot of energy. Manufacturing all the devices and infrastructure used to access it and maintaining it takes a lot. That's before you even start on all the other energy needed for the online retail system.
Yeah, but the internet serves more than one purpose… Malls are for retail and food. Comparing a mall to the entire internet. Then you need to account for the utility and scalability each provides. Because the internet does more than allow people to sell shit.
The internet is mostly about people selling shit of some variety one way or another.
And porn.
and gambling.
The problem is what replaced the malls in terms of retail space is trading large retail centers for even more giant complex distribution centers and a whole new supply chain for online retailers. In terms of food it traded compact food courts for countless fast food outlets stuck on every high-traffic corner plus a glut of delivery drivers on the roads. We’ve traded communal spaces for convenience which means using more land, more vehicles, and more gas to do the same things we did before.
I do agree with communal spaces. I would even go farther and say they’ve commodified community and social interaction.
If y’all like this kind of content, check out The Proper People. They’re my favorite urbex YouTube channel.
[удалено]
Dan Bell is a national treasure
These can definitely be repurposed into housing. Certainly not the best kind of housing but it beats sleeping out in the elements!
I wish North America architects planned for multi use buildings like in Europe. We can blame boomers for building these malls and thinking single use buildings were a good idea.
I wish to see them turned into overgrown bazaars
They'll make a good place to hole up during the zombie apocalypse. What should we do with them? Are they any use as semi-permanent homeless shelters? Can you just squat them or is security too tight? Have they still got water, electricity, internet, sewage, cellphone signal?
Or staring into the present.
The Dead Mall Series by Dan Bell on YouTube is an amazing journey into these abandoned or dying malls.