Maggie's Farm

I grew up in the country, 40 minutes from any 'urban' area. That 'urban' area, after living in NYC, would best be classified as a small town today. About 5 square blocks of stores. Larger than my downtown in suburban NYC, but smaller than several nearby small towns.

When I was growing up we loved driving to the 'urban' area for movies and shopping. In 1974, a mall opened! With a theater and food court! A theater with 4 screens (5 years later, that was 8). The mall was a destination when I was in High School. "Where should we go?" "Let's see who is at the mall." After I graduated from college, malls became less a social outlet and merely functional.

The approach to my current home is a length of road that is about 10 miles of strip malls. Ugly as sin, but useful on a Saturday afternoon. There are 2 malls within 20 minutes of the house. One upscale, one downscale. Both have certain benefits, depending on what I'm in need of. I prefer visiting the upscale one, though I can't afford much there. Brookstone and Bose are fun stores to browse in, though.

Oddly, there are no bookstores in either of those malls, but there are 3 along the 10 miles of strip malls. They are always crowded, even in the day of the e-reader.

Our downtown hasn't suffered. Oh sure, the downtown store owners complain all the time about the malls and the death of the small store. I kind've chuckle. There is always traffic downtown, and most of the small stores have survived. It's the chains that cycle in and out of our downtown area. I don't think that means people are shopping in locally owned stores more than in chains, it probably means the owners of the space know that as chains start to become successful they can jack up the rents. The locals know each other, so they tend to be less aggressive in raising rates. Why do that when you know Abercrombie & Fitch is willing to pay double in that space you are currently renting to The Gap?

That's capitalism. It's fun if you're willing to think about it a little.