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Suburban Living, The Death of Main Street and the Rise of Lifestyle Centers

LANG 901 – WiSe 2022/2023

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White picket fences, perfectly manicured lawns and children on bicycles riding down the street in a quiet suburb: that's exactly how one might picture the American dream. Yet, how did it come about, and what does it have to do with the rise of the shopping mall? And how has suburban life and suburban shopping evolved in modern day?

The History of Suburbanization after World War II

The history of America’s suburb creation is long, but the year 1945 presented a defining moment for U.S. suburban development. This year was important for a number of reasons, but primarily, 1945 marked the end of the second World War and with it the United States facing an unprecedented housing shortage. Millions of American families lacked housing and were in a desperate need of a home. In an effort to combat the housing crisis, the federal government introduced the largest national construction program the country had ever seen.

Suburb Neighborhood

The main focus of this program was the construction of detached single-family homes in suburban areas. The man put in charge of this operation who would ultimately change the face of American suburbs forever, was William Levitt. Levitt was originally tasked by the federal government during World War II to design and build housing for former and current U.S. service members as fast and as cheaply as possible.

             Levitt and his team used mass manufacturing methods in the construction design. Levitt built the first mass produced suburb in the country and what happened in this development would set the standard for thousands of communities from the west coast to the east coast. His team began building the biggest planned community in the United States in 1947, on land Levitt had acquired in Long Island, New York. Every single home had one living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom and a small yard in the front and back of the house. Mothers could watch their kids playing in the back from the kitchen window, which was located close to the back of the home. After just one year, Levitt was constructing 36 homes per day. The houses were very reasonably priced due to his efficient assembly-line building method, and thanks to Eisenhower’s highway act, people had an easier time driving to their jobs in the cities, all the while living in the suburbs. During the 1950s the United States of America was experiencing the biggest economic boom the county had seen up to this point. This led to the middle class having more money to spend than ever before, and they were spending it on, among other things, buying their own houses and cars.

Levittown, Long Island

Back when Levitt built his homes in the late 1940s and early 1950s there was no down payment for veterans and for anyone else it was $10. That is just $120 today adjusting for inflation. The houses cost about $8,000, the equivalent of $96,000 in today’s dollars. This first housing development on Long Island was named after its creator ‘Levittown’. At the beginning the homes were exclusively accessible to U.S. military personal. Levittown homes eventually become available to non-service members as well, under the condition that they were white. For more more on this: This news report features interviews of long-time residents of Levittown on the suburb's history of segregation.

One of the reasons a Levittown home was so affordable was the time efficient assembly-line building style, which resulted in very little variety for home buyers to choose from. This led to every home looking mostly the same. Residents of Levittown had to follow many rules in order to live in the new suburb. One of the conditions home-owners had to obey was to mow their lawns on a weekly basis. The practice of conformity in the neighborhood drew much criticism, but despite that, millions of Americans dreamed of jumping on the opportunity to own their own slice of the American dream and to avoid paying high rents in the dirty and crime infested cities. Soon more suburbs popped up all over the country at rapid speed. Within only a few decades, the practice of suburbanization would house more people than urban areas of the county. With an increasing number of families moving to the suburbs, indoor shopping malls and fast-food chain restaurants were constructed to accommodate the new residents and their suburban middle-class dream.

Victor Gruen, The Rise of The Mall and the Death of Main Street

Video: The Southdale Center Today.

The rise of the mall is a direct result of the growth of the suburbs. The mastermind responsible for the conception of the indoor shopping mall as we know it today was a man named Victor Gruen. Gruen, who was originally from Austria, became famous by designing store fronts of boutiques in New York, and he had the dream to create the ultimate shopping experience for customers: the indoor shopping mall.

The arcades in Vienna, Austria had served as the main inspiration for Gruen. On October 8, 1956, his vision finally became reality. The very first indoor mall of the country opened its doors for shoppers in Edina, Minnesota, named the Southdale Center. This indoor mall was designed to provide customers with a temperature regulated environment in which they could comfortably shop regardless of weather conditions. In addition to stores, the Southdale Center also offered shoppers water fountains, a food court, and art installations, all indoors. Gruen’s design was based on the idea of combining various department stores, an affordable dining experience and exciting entertainment for the whole family, all under one roof in a giant air-conditioned building complex. The design focused on being easily accessible for customers with cars, providing them with huge parking lots with parking space for hundreds of cars and pedestrian walkways to safely enter and exit the mall. Ever since the Southdale Center first opened its doors, more and more malls followed all over the country. Malls became a cornerstone of American life, and a way of life. In 1986 Consumer Reports stated that the "air-conditioned, sanitized, standardized shopping malls have become the new Main Streets of America". With thousands of people moving from the city to the suburbs, and consequently creating a need for a place that provided shopping and also entertainment opportunities, a need was created, which was satisfied by the indoor mall. This development started a whole different problem: the death of the Central Business District (CBD). The dramatic shift in the country’s population - coupled with increasing car usage leading to reduced reliance on public transportation - were the main causes for the dramatic decline of CBD income. You can find more information on the death of the Central Business District here. 
 

In its beginning, the main competition of a mall was the Central Business District. With this competition slowly dying, and in some cities completely gone, it meant that a mall's primary competition became other surrounding malls, much like the only true competition of suburban communities became other suburbs.  The middle-class had defined and carved out its slice of the American dream, changing the face of modern living.

The Death of The Indoor Shopping Mall and the Rise of Lifestyle Centers

As we have seen so far, the meteoric rise of the indoor shopping mall over the 1970s and 1980s lead the slow decline of Main Street. However, beginning around the 1990s, the American indoor shopping mall also began to experience a steady decline, caused by multiple factors. Among them can be included the rise of online shopping, a general oversaturation in the number of shopping malls nationwide, the devaluation and eventual closing of anchor stores and many others. More information regarding the specific factors that led to the decline of the shopping mall can be found here.
   Yet, as the number of customers within the traditional shopping mall declined, a new alternative began to emerge around the early 2000s, which promised to revive the suburban shopping experience: The Lifestyle Center.

What is a Lifestyle Center?

What is a Lifestyle Center?

A picture of Main Street in Salinas, California
Kierland Commons lifestyle center in Phoenix, Arizona

A Comparison – a public Main Street in Salinas, California (left) and the Kierland Commons lifestyle center in Phoenix, Arizona (right).

The International Council of Shopping Centres defines a lifestyle center as “an open-air project located near affluent residential neighbourhoods that includes at least 50,000 square feet of retail space occupied by upscale national chain specialty stores”, usually located near a more affluent suburban environment, combining high density residential spaces, high-end shopping, and “highly designed pedestrian environments”. The ‘highly designed pedestrian environments’ are a key aspect, as most of these lifestyle centers are designed to emulate an important historical staple of U.S. American culture: The traditional Main Street.

View of Main Street, USA at Disneyland Park

View of "Main Street, USA" at Disneyland Park.

The historical Main Streets had for a long period of time been a vital center of commerce, retail, and community, for both urban and suburban households. With the advent of strip malls, shopping centers, and the indoor shopping mall, the Central Business District, and by extension downtown Main Street began to fade nationwide. In many towns, what is left of Main Street today is crumbling road infrastructure, sparse shoppers, and empty storefronts gathering dust.

Yet, despite its decline, Main Street as a cultural item remains alive and well in the American subconscious, and one illustration of this is the advent of lifestyle centers, often referred to as ‘townscape malls’.

The Greene in Dayton, Ohio – A Case Study

The Greenw in Dayton Ohio

How exactly do lifestyle centers emulate the aesthetic of a traditional Main Street?

Many researchers point towards some of the methods used by Walt Disney when he designed the entrance to Disneyland, emulating many buildings in his hometown in Fort Collins, Colorado. Others, such as Michael Southworth from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Berkeley University, has examined the design of various Lifestyle Centers directly by looking at the following aspects:

  1. Symbolism and imagery

  2. Pedestrian friendliness

  3. Connectedness with context

  4. Public use and limitation of use

In order to explain and illustrate these categories, we will apply this analysis on an authentic example: The Greene Town Center in Dayton, Ohio.

Located near the southeast outskirts of Dayton, Ohio, The Greene Town Center is firmly nestled between the two largest suburbs in the city, serving the needs of both communities. On its official website, The Greene is described as “mixed-use shopping center featuring a variety of upscale retail, restaurants, entertainment, office space, and luxury residential units”, and as “ the area’s premier fashion and dining destination, with over 100 merchants and restaurants.” Here is a closer breakdown of each category based on observations about the design of The Greene Town Center.

Symbolism and Imagery

Many architectural elements are often directly associated with the historical Main Street. These can include clock towers, water towers, a small park or “green”, vintage street lamps, historic details and facades and many more. Many, if not all of these elements are implemented in the design lifestyle centers to deliberately recall the historic memory of Main Street, even going so far as to create fake second and third stories to increase the ‘urban effect’ of the mall.

            When going through The Greene in Google Street View, we can see a great number of these elements in use: Drivers who enter The Greene through its main entryway in Greene Blvd are greeted by a tree-lined street, vintage lamp posts, rustic exposed brick walls, and historic facades, presumably to encourage feelings of nostalgia in any visitors. Yet, as we move further down Greene Blvd, the urban aesthetic demonstrates itself even further. As can be seen in the screenshot below, greenery, awnings, color-coordinated signage and lamp posts, and even a small seating pavilion are utilized in such a way as to sell the feeling of walking through a busy and bustling urban setting. Almost all surrounding buildings reach two to three stories, and the Books & Co. location on the left is designed to resemble a large public library, underlined by the literary names carved into its frieze. Finally, as we reach the end of Greene Blvd, we find a small park or village green, surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating, and even a water feature, clear staples of traditional small-town centers. We can therefore clearly see that the design of many lifestyle centers is purposefully oriented on the design of traditional Main Streets.

Google street view of Greene Blvd, Dayton, Ohio

View of a 'Books & Co.' store from Greene Blvd. Several decorative features are visible.

Pedestrian Friendliness

Historically, Main Streets were designed to be accessible for pedestrians and car owners alike, with ample parking available throughout the street and public transit stops, as well as being easily walkable. Many lifestyle centers attempt to simulate aspects of walkability through the use of sidewalks and benches. This can be observed in The Greene as well, with ample sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and most shops being only a short stroll away from each other.

However, more important aspects of accessibility are done away with in favor of boosting sales and psychologically compelling shoppers to linger at the center for longer periods of time. For example, benches are frequently placed in such a way as to encourage sales, and restrooms are often placed in remote locations or hidden away, forcing costumers to walk past several shops before they can reach them. If we take a few laps around The Greene in Google Street View, something striking can be observed:

Google streetview of The Greene, Dayton, Ohio

View of a 'Yoghurt Mountain' location located in The Greene. Notice the fence blocking access to the seating areas from the sidewalk.

There are very few public benches to be seen, not even in the central plaza. In fact, most seating arrangements are found in front of cafes and restaurants, some of them even being surrounded by physical barriers, meaning they can only be accessed by physically entering the shops. Pedestrian accessibility and walkability is therefore often sacrificed in favor of boosting sales and encouraging shopping behavior.

Connectedness with Context

Most lifestyle centers are almost exclusively accessible by car, with barely any bus stops and tedious paths if there are any. This is also the case with the Greene, and a quick query on Google Maps shows a complete absence of any public transit connections. Additionally, walking to The Greene is very inconvenient due to the winding suburban road plans, and is also completely impossible if one lives in the other side of the highway. Like its predecessor, the indoor shopping mall, the lifestyle center is often surrounded by a sea of parking lots, something that also applies to The Greene Town Center.

This places this lifestyle center firmly within the context of the car-dependent suburban population whose needs it attends to.

Google map of The Greene, Dayton, Ohio

Aerial view of The Greene, with the parking lots are marked in red. (markings added with Google my Maps)

Public Use and Limitations on Use

A notable fact that differentiates the lifestyle center from the very public Main Street is that the roads on which the lifestyle center is built are very much private property. As such, the townscape mall, much like the traditional mall, is a controlled environment, with rules of conduct, dress codes and restrictions on loitering and disruptive behavior.

Yet, lifestyle centers are increasingly being used as public fora, such as to host concerts, farmers markets, art exhibits etc. The townscape mall therefore often skirts the boundaries between private business and public forum, whether by design or by mistake.

Lifestyle centers - New Malls or new 'Main Streets'?

We have seen thus far that Lifestyle Centers functions as a new way for suburban shoppers to experience shopping and retail in the post-Mall era. Yet in the end, how much of these lifestyle centers can be described as a mall, and how much of it can be described as a Main Street?

It is perhaps Mark Gillem, a Professor of Urban and Sustainable Design from The University of Oregon who describes this dilemma most succinctly: He describes lifestyle centers as simulacra: “They are not simple copies of bygone Main Streets; nor are they fantasies without a prototype. Rather, they are hyperreal manifestations that consume the prototype they are meant to emulate. The reproduction has become the new reality.”

Works Cited

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