Posted Mar 11, 2011, 5:13 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
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The Future of the Strip?
March 2, 2011
By Edward T. McMahon
Read More: http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2011/Mar/McMahonStrip
Quote:
For more than 50 years, retailers have favored the commercial strip: a linear pattern of retail businesses strung along major roadways characterized by massive parking lots, big signs, boxlike buildings, and a total dependence on automobiles for access and circulation. For years, planners have tried to contain and improve the strip. Now they are getting help from consumers and the marketplace. The era of strip development is slowly coming to an end. Evolving consumer behavior, changing demographics, high-priced gasoline, internet shopping, and the urbanization of the suburbs are all pointing to a new paradigm for commercial development. Commercial strips are not going to disappear overnight, but it is becoming increasingly clear that strip retail is retail for the last century. The future belongs to town centers, main streets, and mixed-use development.
We’re overbuilt on the strip
From 1960 to 2000 there was an almost tenfold increase in U.S. retail space, from four to 38 square feet per person. For many years, retail space was growing five to six times faster than retail sales. Most of this space came in the form of discount superstores on the suburban strip.
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Retail is rediscovering the city
In 2010, Target announced plans to remodel the century-old Carson Pirie Scott department store in Chicago. This landmark building, designed by architect Louis Sullivan, will be just one of many new, so-called big-box retailers planned for urban neighborhoods.
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The suburbs are being urbanized
At the same time that retail is rediscovering the city, the suburbs are being redesigned. Chris Leinberger recently declared that “the largest redevelopment trend of the next generation will be the conversion of dead or dying strip commercial centers in the suburbs into walkable urban places.” The conversion of car-dependent suburban development is already underway in many metropolitan areas like Washington and Los Angeles, and can be expected to increase in the years to come.
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Traffic congestion, fuel prices, and auto-oriented design are problems for the strip
Americans value convenience, but the perceived convenience of the strip has been reduced as traffic congestion has worsened in recent years. Add to this rising fuel prices and an overall physical environment designed for cars, instead of people, and it’s understandable why fewer people want to shop the strip and almost no one wants to linger.
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Young consumers favor walkability and places with character
Walking for pleasure is, by far, America’s number-one form of outdoor recreation. If you combine walking with shopping—another one of America’s favorite pastimes—you have a winning combination. Time-constrained lifestyles and boredom with the dull sameness of most strip centers have meant a slow but steady decline in the number and length of stays at strip malls.
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The economy is restructuring the retail landscape
The recession saw the collapse of numerous big-box chains, like Circuit City and Linens ’n Things. This helped send vacancy rates soaring. After three years on the brink, consumer confidence has improved, but many analysts say we can expect a new “normal” when it comes to retail spending. Why? Because unemployment remains high, the days of unlimited credit are over, and retail analysts predict that a “new consumer frugality” will be the norm for years to come. What’s more, strip centers without anchors (like grocery stores) and Class B malls are virtually unfinanceable, according to many experts.
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E-Commerce means fewer and smaller stores
Today, the nation’s “healthiest” retailer is not Wal-Mart or Costco. It is Amazon. Amazon has exploited the increasing availability of broadband internet and mobile technology to build a retail superpower. One of the biggest reasons why the strip is coming to an end is because bricks-and-mortar stores are becoming a smaller part of the retail landscape.
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A typical commercial strip.
The old paradigm: single use, auto-oriented.
The new paradigm: mixed use, accessible by both cars and pedestrians.
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