Dozens of malls that are vacant or struggling because of hard economic times could be turned into innovative suburban
"town centers that will provide a greater sense of community and easier living for an aging population, experts say.
Ellen Dunham-Jones, the author of Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs, said the town centers wouldnt be a typical mall but might, for example, have three or four levels of apartments and contain stores that would help area residents meet their everyday needs.
As the suburban population ages, the towns that were once so desirable, with street after street of tidy homes, are now difficult to live in because services like medical care and even grocery shopping require a lot of driving. But a mall that encompasses those services would be the equivalent of the downtown area that the suburbs never had, Dunham-Jones said. It would require less driving and would enable seniors to stay in the area they love, rather than moving out of the town.
About forty such projects are already underway, from Virginia to California. In one Seattle development, the town center has even provided a shuttle service for people who dont want to drive to it.
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