Why are there so many strip malls?

[@NotJustBikes]

This was a great video. I come from a city full of strip malls. They're ugly and uninspiring, but it's the last refuge of the small business in car-centric places. I guess if your downtown has been converted to mostly surface parking lots, this is the next-best thing. It's particularly interesting to note that immigrant communities use these strip malls for their business in the US. This is true in Canada as well, in particular, the Scarborough area of Toronto. Most of the best ethnic shops and restaurants are in strip malls. Very interesting!

[@sammymarrco2]

wassup njb

[@lasyoi]

Not only Scarborough, it is same in Markham, Richmond hill, and maybe all other suburban GTA cities. I guess thats how small business and community centric business survive in a car dependent society.

[@lemongrenade6135]

Stfu car hater

[@fanstalingibs5585]

My biggest problem with seeing strip malls is *how do you retrofit them/fix them?* I cant wrap my mind around fixing these especially when they're connected to a stroad. *perhaps make a video about this please* Either you, climate town, or city beautiful

[@nicolaswithoutah1272]

The mall I live next to is massive but have no parking garages and the mall still covers over half of the property though that’s probably because of the bus station which is used for the workers and your buses.

[@s.n.9485]

Strip malls are a terrible result of urban sprawl. They destroy the surrounding area, take up space, and often times I see new strip malls being built when another strip mall down the road has plenty of vacant spaces.

[@gavinathling]

Yes, why wasn't the environmental impact mentioned? It usually is!

[@raaaaaaaaaam496]

MUH urban sprawl

[@NotJustBikes]

Strong Towns has a *great* article about exactly this (one strip mall opening near another one that's abandoned): www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/5/26/zombie-companies-in-a-zombie-economy Effectively, when credit is so cheap and easily available, any developer can get credit to open a strip mall.

[@Dan-gd6zz]

@@NotJustBikes Comparing the car oriented american urbanism with what you have in the Netherlands, I suppose ?

[@tjsworld98]

@@NotJustBikes Just wanted to say I love your videos.

[@CoderShare]

"America, a 3000 mile long shopping mall, from sea to shining sea." - George Carlin

[@isaacho4573]

One giant transcontinental commercial cesspool

[@vaibhavgupta20]

My first thought when I saw the title.

[@LordManhattan]

Caused by laziness?

[@OatmealTheCrazy]

@@LordManhattan urban sprawl really more than anything. I'd flock pretty quickly to any city that has large pedestrian only zones, or pedestrian + things like cable/street cars or something

[@kristapsvalainis1671]

@@Inquiring that is also a quote by George Carlin

[@lambda6564]

This is the exact opposite mentality than we have in Germany. Most people don´t want to drive far to such areas. only gas stations, car washing and garden centers are outside of town. Most small stores seek to be close to the town center, where restaurants, cafe´s and a lot of residential space is. Stores pop up around architectural sights, train stations and densely populated areas. They benefit from proximity to each other to generate more foot-traffic. grocery stores on the other hand are often build within residential areas, so that they can mostly be reached by bycicle and foot.

[@lunamcgrath3266]

As someone in the US that seems like such a better system and I am very jealous

[@FranzFridl]

@@lunamcgrath3266 it only works in big cities. In small towns you are lost without a car. When I moved to Munich I get rid of the money wasting, unpractical, poluting car

[@kthemaster1999]

As someone who has always lived in what you might as well call Urban Sprawl City, I always wondered how people in big cities with no cars went grocery shopping or something like. I'm used to having cars as a way of transporting all the groceries, often to much for someone to carry on their own. I'm assuming they don't shop nearly as much all at once or perhaps get a taxi or Uber or something.

[@FranzFridl]

@Untergrundmaschine Mühldorf, Bayern. The drivers are dick heads and the buses don't go everywhere and the frecuency is terrible. And before I was living in Mettenheim, a village it was a pain in the ass to live there with only 1 car for 2 people with diferent needs and times. I pay much more in rent but the life quality is much better in the big city

[@FranzFridl]

@Untergrundmaschine I'd have to go and check it out after corona :D

[@wills1644]

Maybe I just wasn’t meant for American culture, but every time I see a strip mall I think of how much uglier it made our cities

[@NanoMedia1]

Youre not alone.

[@ifkensen_3304]

I really hate them

[@alifloydtv]

"American culture", good joke ;) Just kidding, but as a Yurpean I find these fascinating and horrifying. The homogeneity, it just freaks me out a bit. Connecticut? California? I don't know, it's all the same stores/building/cars/parking. Very weird to me.

[@Qce-i6d]

I would say the small ones are nice. But when they haven't been maintained and still have rotted out wood from the 1970s they are a major eyesore.

[@obscuretapes5127]

Yeah, this video seemed weirdly positive of them. Efficient? What?

[@JackRackam]

This is just to say I love the word entablature and am going to find as many excuses as I can to use it now

[@BrianHatfieldSeattle]

Right? My ears perked at that new word.

[@alakdesign22]

The fact that he called that an entablature is hilarious, just google it and you'll see what I mean.... Only a North American could assign such a word to a strip mall hahaha

[@tigergallant]

That sounds like such a mission! Though. . it may be a lonely pursuit. . I wish you the best, friend!

[@Cre8Lounge]

They should be better designed for truck deliveries!!!

[@skyfeelan]

timestamp?

[@jholotanbest2688]

Strip malls are a weird thing. Before visiting the US I had never even imagined such a thing.

[@general2109]

Alongside sprawling, soulless suburbs, strip malls symbolize everything wrong with American urban planning

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

Hehe, I honestly never thought about how big in American culture it is because it's so common, but it's so so awesome too because we can park in one place and pass through multiple stores at a time

[@Strideo1]

@@zkittlezthabanditt604 As an American who lives in a more urban walkable area I can't stand strip malls. They helped destroy the charming mains streets and commercial villages we centered neighborhoods around before the automobile became the sole focus of city planning.

[@Walk_da_plank]

Consider yourself lucky. Not only are they a contributor to urban sprawl, but they are only acessible by vechile alienating people without cars.

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

@@Walk_da_plank Uh... wym

[@iainronald4217]

This is embarrassing, but, when I was a kid I used to think Strip Malls were a subset of malls where both shoppers and employees were naked, lol. I literally thought it was a nudist shopping centre.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

Well, at least there's no waiting for a changing room.

[@garywilliams6124]

Alright then

[@chaotickreg7024]

It's ok I thought something similar, I thought it was like a mall of strip clubs or something.

[@totoroben]

Exhibitionist mall? Yes.

[@Kehwanna]

Yes, we sell clothes here, but don't you dare come in wearing any! Excuse me. Hey! Sir! Sir! Your hat! Take it off! Show some decency! This is a family establishment!

[@iammrbeat]

What about the effect of the retail apocalypse on strip malls? I think strip malls will become less common in the coming decades because of it.

[@afroceltduck]

Just thinking about one of the strips malls closest to me, it has: medical clinics, restaurants (casual and sit-down), a credit union, a pet shop, a gym, and military recruitment offices. So I agree with Snarky, they'll be around for whatever needs a physical space to operate.

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

I personally don't think so, I guess there'll be some cutback, but I think most of it's gonna be left for restaurants and bigger stores, and things like dollar tree if you catch my drift

[@enepesf5126]

Hey Mr.Beat :D

[@street_ruffian]

I definitely agree with others responses. Most likely the only way strip malls would truly disappear is with a change in policy and infrastructure in the US that shift cities to be less car oriented. I doubt that will happen any time soon on a mass scale.

[@jerrypie]

I feel like strip malls aren’t competing with online retail so they’re probably gonna be okay. Stuff like nail salons, tax services, ice cream shops, etc.

[@youp9546]

So many strip malls in Florida with empty stores and yet we keep building more

[@habib6499]

Yeah your talking about Florida

[@selkrasouza6262]

Florida city planners only know how to build pockets of houses and strip malls.

[@anderswennstig5476]

As much as I dislike strip malls from an urbanist point of view, they really are the main spot for immigrant businesses and small businesses in general. We absolutely can not remove strip malls in the name of better city planning without providing an alternative place for small businesses and immigrant businesses to thrive.

[@hendrikdependrik1891]

@ Just get rid of those stupid mandatory parking minimums.

[@crispoman]

@ It would be a good idea, if not for the bizarre fetish the US has for zoning laws. Sure, nobody wants to live next to a soot-spewing factory, but I have never understood why commercial and residential can't be mixed (it works perfectly well in grandfathered-in areas) and it would reduce the reliance on having to have an automobile. I may just have been watching too much "Not Just Bikes" though. :-)

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@crispoman There is almost nothing that prevents a developer with money from getting approval for "mixed use". It just doesn't sell in places where there is ample room to build apartments and houses away from commercial traffic. Existing single family residential areas are really the only developments that get stuck being what they are.

[@PatheticTV]

In Hong Kong a striking majority of our buildings are like shophouses, but instead of just a house on top it’s around 3-4 storeys of flats, probably only 1 per floor. It’s in these old buildings that a lot of our small businesses are, but they have extremely high foot traffic.

[@weldon29]

Immigrant business will move to wherever the rent is cheap.

[@Studio23Media]

I hate strip malls in every way, EXCEPT that they're much much more convenient and accessible for me and others with disabilities, then a mall.

[@blitzn00dle50]

Personally I think that people should be taxed (according to their income) for driving in dense megacities unless they are disabled or something like a delivery vehicle. If it's not necessary to become metal majesty, you ride a bike and take the train.

[@LetsGoGetThem]

@@blitzn00dle50 People would just claim disability and find loopholes if this was the case, even if you could design systems to report it, people would be angered at this system enough to not bother report their friends and family doing this and it would lead to lengthy expensive legal battles that would clog up the justice system. It would probably end up becoming like medical marijuana, bootlegging (in the prohibition era) or stealing movies on the internet. Illegal and abused, but ignored by authorities. It would hurt lower income communities living far away from workplaces more too, to them driving a car is not being "majesty" at all, it's absolutely necessary even with trains that would have capacity problems if this was a serious initiative. If that many people were forced on bikes there would be a lot of accidents too. At least if you crash your car you have airbags and seatbelt, if you're texting on your phone while riding a bike and a truck plows into you, then there is little you can do really. Train infrastructure isn't there, and even in cities with it there is still a lot of traffic, see Tokyo.

[@blitzn00dle50]

@@LetsGoGetThem I also think wealthy business districts and poor neighborhoods should be close to each other so most people barely have to ride 5 kilometers to their workplace. If the rich people weren't allowed to just move their mansions away from the affordable apartment blocks maybe it would also give both classes exposure to each other so they'd both end up hating each other less. The trains would be used by people who live pretty far from their job or just to get downtown. It sounds unrealistic in a society where the rich do whatever they want, but maybe in a country that doesn't actively try to make its ghettos worse the upper middle class would be fine with having a large source of employees near all of their businesses. As for disability fraud, people might have to carry around government issued cards when driving that prove they are disabled or have kids under 7 or something, and maybe each one can have a different ID that's entered into your annual taxes to exempt you from the big city driving tax. Those with fraudulent IDs would be fined pretty hard, but again that would scale up by income, which would result in fines of 100 bucks for the people who would be harshly affected by a higher fine and millions of dollars for those who can afford it. This would probably be a lot more feasible if the city in question had bicycle infrastructure like Amsterdam. Also if you're texting while biking and die that's on you bruv. A system like this most likely won't be necessary outside of Africa but cars are already on their way out as people start to realize how destructive they've been to cities.

[@LetsGoGetThem]

@@blitzn00dle50 People find jobs far away from them that they qualify for. Requiring an ever expanding workforce to live in forced accomodations close to their work with other people of means who wouldn't want to live in these accommodations anyways and would have to be forced into these conditions is an absurd notion that has no basis in reality. It's nice to dream about, but it's not the condition. If the tax was intended to mass prohibit the usage of the car, the train and public transport system would be over encumbered very quickly. Even in places with great and cheap transport has a lot of traffic as said earlier. The ideal should be to reduce traffic, but not abolish it. People are ideally charged hard with fines regarding fraud regarding other things as well, it just so happens if the system is overwhelmed with them that it ends up either being ignored or unenforced. It becomes an unenforceable law when it hits the mass people, it's not simply people wanting to screw the system to get a disability parking space, it will hit the masses like if every parking space was a disability parking space, whenever such things happen it's a recipe for disaster, like say, prohibition. That people will fraud themselves to be disabled or ignore this law in any way is a guarantee because it is not a privilege to be able to drive a car, it's a necessity for the lower middle and poor classes to live, and a privilege not having to do so. It's not simply work place, but having to transport families around and other things that is necessary to the quality of life. There's better way of combating traffic and pollution that doesn't involve forcing another tax upon a strained working class. Car pooling, electric cars and (future) self driving taxis. Bike lane expansion, etc. The rerouting of traffic and creation of trafficless streets. An expansion and promotion of public transport that ideally would be close to free, but not enforced usage. You really don't need to effectively pressure the working class to drop the car to do this, make more lanes in different sectors available. This measure already exists in America anyways and is similar to the car tax which is present in several places depending on the state or province, an annual car tax, it's not a new idea but it's not a solution.

[@Joesolo13]

@@LetsGoGetThem you're making long unconvincing post defending car culture People will cheat for sure. But not all of them. So it'll still reduce cars

[@DarkFunk1337]

It may be efficient but I certainly don't think strip malls contribute to city beauty in any way

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

Well i think it's a nice part of American culture, and if you make them correctly, their quite nice in my opinion

[@gavinathling]

Yes. It's weird that this wasn't mentioned. Nor the environmental impact of stores that require car ownership in order to access them.

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

@@gavinathling Oh boy.. So, even if America took out ALL of our factories, burning services, etc. and CARS, we would only get rid of ONE HUNDRETH OF A DEGREE [1/100], so we hardly cause any damage at all, it's places like China and other developing countries that produce the mass amounts of CO2, so Cars don't make much of an impact AT ALL, as I said, it's the factories in China doing most of the work, and I'm not saying this out of opinion because I used to think of cars the same way, but after I saw a bunch of these studies released, they said that it's almost completely developing countries and factories.

[@notcarrotnose258]

@@zkittlezthabanditt604 wow chill

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

@@notcarrotnose258 Lol

[@samb3031]

Bizarre how often you use the word "efficient" to describe a single storey building surrounded by an ocean of tarmac.

[@laurencefraser]

Depends what you're measduring the efficiency of. Land-usage wise it's pretty bad (though it doesn't look too bad in most cases when you consider how the alternatives usually go), but in terms of customer throughput wise it's actually pretty good.

[@octorokpie]

You consider that an ocean of tarmac? As pointed out in the video, the parking lots are actually pretty small compared to popular alternatives. And the examples in the video were pretty sizable, I've seen many a strip mall with just three dense rows of spaces down the length.

[@seprishere]

@@octorokpie How about one row? www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5732339,-3.0123282,123m/data=!3m1!1e3

[@MrBlazefp]

@@octorokpie alternatives often have underground parking, resulting in a land usage ratio considerably higher than 1:4, hence reducing the visible ocean of tarmac

[@linuxman7777]

It is the most efficient of all of the Auto Oriented options, still less efficient than a main street in an urban area.

[@Strideo1]

Strip malls have turned suburban America into a wasteland of a commercial centers that are hard to care about.

[@deus_ex_machina_]

That's the point. If the aliens attack, they won't bother destroying the US because everything is so spread out. Their ordinance would be far better spent bombing densely packed Asian, African, South American, and European population centers.

[@GerardoAguilar1]

@@deus_ex_machina_ North East corridor of the US is packed with people. From Boston all the way down to DC. Aliens wouldn't ignore that, hehe

[@linuxman7777]

Still better than malls and big boxes, If you look at a strip mall, it has more characteristics of a good urban main street than other suburban auto oriented retail

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

no, they haven't

[@NAUM1]

I do wish there were more walking neighborhoods, but we do have to admit the strip malls pay more in property taxes and help subsidize those that live in the suburb. The commercial areas tend to do that. I think the vast areas of single family houses are the bigger problem, because all of the houses are the same. If those that owned single family houses would plant more trees instead of worrying about grass, then I would be more lenient. Some communities are starting to realize the benefits to multi-family housing and encouraging more duplexes, apartments, condos, and townhomes.

[@ThaiTom100]

When I got a job at the airport, I reluctantly had to buy a car and could no longer use the train to get to work. My commute involved driving up a large, four lane road that was lined on both sides with endless strip malls. I found it profoundly ugly and depressing, to the point where it had a noticeable affect on my mood each day. I suppose that strip malls may be something that just comes hand-in-hand with car culture, but I hate them with a passion. Maybe if we invested in transit and pedestrian friendly cities, we could then burn strip malls to the ground.

[@KarimElhoussami]

In the UK, most major airports (especially Heathrow and Gatwick are very well connected by public transport so if someone tells you it can't be done, they're wrong)

[@georgeg7259]

Agree with you completely. I don’t drive and I hate how USA plans everything for the car first and foremost.

[@LastBastion]

And let the new immigrants business or new entrepreneur burn too?

[@ThaiTom100]

@@LastBastion H Y P E R B O L E

[@PatheticTV]

@@LastBastion Obviously not. Why don’t you put them on the ground floor of taller buildings? In fact, why don’t american cities even have tall buildings at all? From what I’ve seen in movies, your cities are like 5 tall-ish buildings and then suburban sprawl everywhere around it. Can someone explain why?

[@lukas_koe]

Strip malls are only "efficient" when viewed through the lens of the venn diagram in the beginning. By any other standard (such as land use, pollution, and waste) it is horribly inefficient. Is this not just as important when designing cities?

[@kingofgar101]

That venn diagram is America though for many decades cars convenience and capitalism were all that mattered, still is to some degree.

[@TaldanZero]

They're much more efficient than the typical American choice of a power center full of big-box stores. It's a low bar to cross, but strip malls are definitely preferable to power centers

[@mvnettis]

I was surprised you didn’t discuss how parking minimums impacted the design of strip malls. In most areas, adding a 2nd story would require 2x the number of parking spaces for zoning minimums. This is why lots of American stores are only 1 story, not as much because we don’t like stairs. (That’s what elevators are for!)

[@OatmealTheCrazy]

Which they could do with a garage, or even an underground one if they think that will look too unsightly

[@Default78334]

@@OatmealTheCrazy It's typically between 5-10x more expensive to build a garage parking spot than a surface lot.

[@OatmealTheCrazy]

@@Default78334 uh, duh?

[@Default78334]

@@OatmealTheCrazy Yes, which is why they don't build that second story...

[@OatmealTheCrazy]

@@Default78334 just because it's more expressive doesn't mean they can't be a worthwhile investment.

[@tdb7992]

We have them in Australia too - mostly in the post-war, American influenced suburbs. The inner cities are still largely modelled on street front stores and British style terrace housing & apartments. Australian cities are a weird blend of Britain and America.

[@anaussie213]

In Australian cities like Sydney It goes city (cbd), inner city terrace suburbs, (ex) street car/tram suburbia, train suburbia, car suburbia. We've got all kinds (trams have been replaced with buses though).

[@felix121984]

Very true !

[@wannabeaznufcfighter]

I love getting explanation on the random things we see in our city life.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Meanwhile, my local strip mall is pretty much dead. They had such bad luck with anchor stores. Majority of them have declared bankruptcy. But it's nice to see other strip malls still thriving while much bigger malls are dying

[@hmoobmeeka]

Its avery the cuban american

[@Coolsomeone234]

Hi again

[@south_tetrimus5164]

its avery the cuban american

[@youssefe5127]

Your in EVERY COMMENT SECTION

[@bubskebulba1127]

i cannot think of a more depressing place I visit on a regular basis than a strip mall parking lot. Car-centric planning sucks.

[@chaotickreg7024]

I would love to make huge brutal art in the middle of a parking lot but there really isn't anything already there to work with. I just remembered I used to walk a parking for 4 hours a night as security for a restaurant and it was very boring. I made my own fun, but it was still incredibly uneventful.

[@bubskebulba1127]

@@chaotickreg7024 Theres room for all manner of things in a strip mall parking lot, all it takes is the will of the owner and a little imagination (and capital investment). I hope City Beautiful does a video on replacing strip mall parking lots with mixed-use town square style developments.

[@linuxman7777]

Enclosed Malls, Office Parks and Big Boxes are even more depressing. Strip malls remind me of ugly urban main streets with some parking which as far as asthetics goes, does kinda suck, but for practicalities sake, it is actually quite good, and very accessible.

[@chaotickreg7024]

@@linuxman7777 Yuck, office parks. I wish they were at least good for skateboarding or something. Big boxes are even worse.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@chaotickreg7024 A strip mall in Berwyn, Illinois was once known for some notable outdoor artwork in the parking lot and a unique McDonald's.

[@kamon242]

A lot of these got built in Santiago, Chile between 2000-2010. I never really understood why since they're placed in small, walkable residential zones where car traffic is pretty low. They have 2 floors of single-floor stores though, so they at least got right the fact that people walking are more likely to bother using the stairs.

[@TheSeppentoni]

Man in Europe we can only dream of such inefficient use of space. As a tourist to the US I found it so crazy that everything is just one story tall.

[@Qce-i6d]

Your not wrong. I can't stand when stores here in the USA have parking lots that are so huge that after a while they just turn into a desert of pavement that slowly turns back into gravel. On the bright side, the city I live in is finally starting to make better use of those spaces. I think strip malls are only nice if they are modest in size. That way they are inviting and within walking distance but down crowd out a huge parcel of land that could be zoned for other uses.

[@barvdw]

There could be small improvements, like mandatory sidewalks along the storefronts that are publicly accessible, and perhaps office space or even apartments on second storey, with parking behind the lot as to not compete for parking with shoppers. It's not going to win a beauty contest, but strip malls can be made more pedestrian friendly, and thus more lively.

[@pbilk]

@@Qce-i6d Me too, I have seen some malls in the Vancouver area and parts of Ontario make indoor malls more of a pleasant such as adding housing, small park spaces and offices to property. Therefore, making use of the pointless large parking lot.

[@Croz89]

@Adi Odjidja You can look at the few strip malls the UK has on Google Maps and find out. Generally several of the following: A takeaway pizza place (Dominos/Papa John's), a sandwich/baked goods shop, a tanning salon, a small bathroom/kitchen/furniture showroom, a bookies, some kind of medical establishment like a doctor's surgery, dentist, optician, or vets, and maybe a small cafe or greasy spoon. There's also what I like to call "industrial" strip malls that have shops like Screwfix and lumber merchants.

[@ikb8373]

😂😂😂😂😂.....what a lie.... many European cities does not allow construction of skyscrapers 😂😂😂😂....this comment section is just a bunch of Europeans and self hating Americans bashing America for something found in all countries

[@vlad8606]

Strip malls are the worst! They are never connected to the strip mall next door, and they are too small and numerous for red lights, so making left turns out of them have often proved dangerous.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Modern day land developers do not accept cross access arrangements very much. People buy huge chunks of land and waste it.

[@swinde]

Turn right and use the controlled intersections to get back to where you are going.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@swinde Right in-right out entrances are gay. I always go left.

[@wavelength3856]

This is one of my favorite videos to date - particularly love all the practical advice in the first half about all of the design considerations that make a strip mall more (or less) effective at what it's trying to do, even backed up with hard numbers to serve as a rule of thumb. Awesome job with this one!

[@nlpnt]

You can, at least in theory, run a thriving business in an otherwise-vacant strip mall because of the street visibility and direct access to parking. That's all but impossible in an enclosed mall where potential customers would have to walk past a thousand feet of empty storefronts.

[@khumothage4629]

Brought to you by some Urban Sprawl near you.

[@ThecodbroZ11]

As a tourist to the USA , I found it baffling how there were endless rows of strip malls on every main road. Who needs that much shopping ?!

[@patxepi]

Restaurants are often in strip malls too

[@odemata87]

Lot of people in this country

[@ThecodbroZ11]

I hate parking islands around each restaurant. That is so stupid

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

Americans do lol

[@gavinathling]

@@odemata87 That's definitely not the answer. I did a quick poll of the small US city in which I live, and compared it to a large UK town ("city" has a specific meaning in the UK) with the same population. The number of shops in the US city (Manchester NH) was way more than even a larger city (Brighton, England). Americans seem to buy more, and are more willing to drive to stores to do that shopping. I didn't do a similar survey with French locations, but my feeling is that the French are even less willing to drive to shop than the Brits.

You are a great speaker. Clear, concise, and articulate. Your content is also superb. Bravo!

[@Tonestronaut]

I think strip malls could help solve California's housing crisis. Tear them down and rebuild them as they were before, but with one or two floors of apartments above the shops.

[@pbilk]

Yes!

[@joaquinjr2570]

Yes but watch the California residence will not want it. They never do they always build low Residential

[@Globalurb]

That's what happening in Canada. Many strip malls (and even shopping malls) are getting converted into condos with shops on ground floor.

[@filanfyretracker]

@@joaquinjr2570 you get that all over the USA, nobody wants housing built unless its ultra lux condos. They will attack affordable housing plans at any city council meeting, Of course they still want their strip malls employed by people at low wages so they can have low low prices.

[@joaquinjr2570]

David Kearns you’re correct

[@clintcarpentier2424]

Strip malls also tend to be within walking distance of apartments and hotels. And most normal people don't want their property devalued by a big box store cluttering their horizon, it's a zoning issue.

[@barvdw]

Ah, zoning, the bane of US efficient urbanism.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@barvdw Zoning is a fringe issue. Populism led to governments subsidizing the shit out of road infrastructure and real estate debt that skews the market away from higher density development. Almost all "zones" are created on vacant, soon to be developed land because that is what the private developer is trying to get approval for. Apartment buildings, commercial, and industrial property zoning changes quite often to get redeveloped.

[@barvdw]

@@MilwaukeeF40C I wouldn't call it fringe, but it's certainly political. And yes, not the only reason why it's so hard to build mixed neighbourhoods in North America, it's single family or big condo, and very little in between.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

@@barvdw Planning commercial locations in the middle of new housing developments, away from main roads, just isn't done regardless of zoning. Potential store investors want to be where the traffic is, with more than a small neighborhood-only customer base. The nearest houses would also automatically have a slightly lower value. The last things that still get put in the middle of house lots are elementary schools and parks. It has been fashion for over half a century to put everything else on the edge of new neighborhoods, along the arterial roads that were there when it was still farmland or woods. New arterial roads rarely get built either (developers would have to "dedicate" the land for them), the local governments just widen the old ones.

[@barvdw]

@@MilwaukeeF40C isn't that the point? That developers only see car traffic as 'traffic' and potential buyers? And to be honest, in a North American context, that might even be correct in most cases, but it's a reinforcing loop, there are no shops you can walk to, so you take a car, so there are no shops you can walk to... There's the opposite, too, in stead of bringing shops closer to homes ("I don't want a stinking shop opposite my house, those deliveries make too much noise."), you could bring homes closer to shops, too. Why not build apartments on top of those shops? Quite often, because it's not allowed. Or because the demands are too onerous because of mandatory parking requirements and such.

[@p1mason]

In a way, strip malls are best thought of as a symptom of the 20th century retreat from the outdoors. What I mean is that sometime in the middle of the twentieth century a consensus developed that the pedestrian realm should be equated with indoors. The indoor realm was to be stitched together with a combination of enclosed pedways and "docking facilities" for private vehicles, so that pedestrians never had to venture outside (where they were no longer welcome). In this context, the number one necessity for a shopping district is a way to dock cars directly with the various shops so that shoppers can access the shops without having to go outside (or without having to go outside much). It's also significant (although off topic) that enclosed shopping malls were, as originally envisioned, semi outdoor pedestrian spaces and were envisioned by an architect who was vocally critical of the retreat from outdoors.

[@LetsGoGetThem]

A century is to blame for people not wanting to spend time outside shopping? Okay. I thought it was, y'know, the sun. Rain. Snow. Bugs. Noise. The smell......

[@kaneworthington]

Gamestop really trying to expand its demographic offering hair, nails and tanning services now

[@laureljade3476]

and free babbysitting services.

[@BoleDaPole]

Maybe they'll cash checks too? But only for games, Check into Games instead of Check into Cash

[@onetdev]

I always leave GameStop with perfectly tanned nails.

[@timmmahhhh]

You mentioned how Americans were abandoning strip malls for enclosed malls. In recent history that is reversing with indoor malls going away, often times being replaced with strip malls. The effects of internet shopping and now Covid without question will bring significant changes to the model yet again.

[@Maxime_K-G]

In Europe, we kinda have this too, only the shops are integrated into rowhouses and there's just one row of parking along the street. It works though, there always seems to be at least one free parking spot. It's also a hell of a lot more space-efficient.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

That's kind of how bigger US cities (or Downtown Mediumvilles) end up, except there's a parking garage in the basement that they charge through the ear to use. Strip malls are much more common in urban sprawl. I can think of at least one or two strip malls in my neighborhood that have apartments attached to them, but they're mostly in one of the ethnic concentrations.

[@pbilk]

@@BonaparteBardithion True and urban sprawl sucks environmentally and regarding transportation.

[@cameronjournal]

This is becoming common here in Seattle, retail on bottom office/residential on top. Even some malls are getting redeveloped in this direction. Bonus if its near a light rail stop.

[@SuperSMT]

Strip malls around me (new england) usually do also have only one row [well one aisle, with two rows of spaces] of parking in front. A couple even have two levels of shops! Sometimes offices on top.

[@rajnadar6555]

I wish strip malls would have the parking in the back to make it more convenient for the people who live in the surrounding areas to walk/bike to them.

[@emeraldfrmnyc]

That makes sense

[@kmaher1424]

Strip malls are unlovely but diverse Houston has an amazing variety of shops and restaursnts in them. At least, last time I made it out there...

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Other people: Can Americans get any more lazier and unhealthy? Americans: Yes.

[@acommenter]

More like "wait, this isn't a shopping centre with strippers?"

[@BrianHatfieldSeattle]

Hold my beer.

[@jeffreyvauxhall3260]

God bless

[@MirzaAhmed89]

@@BrianHatfieldSeattle You're too lazy to hold your own?

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

other people: can Americans get more inventive, innovative, hardworking, resourceful, adventurous, entrepreneurial, generous ...? Americans: Yes

[@hse6144]

The second floor on a strip mall is avoided due to the costs of making it wheelchair accessible. Elevators are expensive to maintain, cutting into profits. A long , low grade, ramp looks horrible.

[@garethbaus5471]

Seems like a long low grade ramp could easily be installed behind the building circling around to stop at the front so it is easy to access from the street.

[@hse6144]

@@garethbaus5471 the name of the game is profit.

[@FGH9G]

Ugh, I can't stand these eyesores of suburbia. Whether it be strip malls, big box retail stores, or huge swathes of Walmart-style parking craters, I, hell, we all can do without these things.

[@Strideo1]

Also I've noticed that property values are much higher near a thriving main street business district than they are near a strip mall. People perceive the value that the old style neighborhoods have and there is a demand for it.

[@FGH9G]

@@Strideo1 Yup. Bingo. There's a reason why property values are higher next to walkable, and dense main-street like neighborhoods and downtowns. Because people actually WANT to be there. Those places are actually pleasant, and have a nice community feel. Do you know anyone who actually wants to linger in a strip mall, or any auto oriented commercial area?

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@FGH9G me, it just makes me feel safe even despite how dangerous cars are

[@dlwatib]

Pre-WWII commercial buildings in the USA typically had an upper floor, but they often went disused so post-WWII commercial buildings were generally built without them. Zoning played a part. Upper floors were often used as residential rentals, but in a strictly commercial zone all residential uses are banned. They were quite marginal as apartments anyway since the street activity tends to be noisy. Personally I like walking streets lined with strip malls and other businesses. They're much more interesting than walking in suburban residential neighborhoods. I can usually find something interesting to eat, or at least several choices of fast food.

[@davidbaker8364]

I dream of a day I never hear the words "parking lot" ever again.

[@coastaku1954]

Why are you people so against Cars and accommodating cars, seriously, why?!??! I want to love Density and Biking and stuff, I do, but why do all of the Urban Development channels and supporters keep shitting on what I do. The condescending attitude to how a lot of people live has to stop if you're ever going to change people's mind.

[@manoflead643]

@@coastaku1954 Road infrastructure is much, much more expensive per capita on maintenance. Suburbs don't really make any money because of that, afaik. It all gets sucked out by repairing their 30% land coverage of tarmac. Not to mention, needing 2 or 3 cars per family is expensive. Like 8000 bucks a year for each extra car or something crazy like that, between fuel costs and such.

[@emeraldfrmnyc]

@@coastaku1954 Im pretty sure they dont like Depending of a car to get to point A to B.

[@coastaku1954]

@@emeraldfrmnyc I know people who really don’t mind it

[@bismarckswalkingstick]

@@coastaku1954 and we know people who do. Well, what would you like to say on that?

[@81ghostface]

You’re Amazing! Keep up the work !!

[@Kizyr]

As an aside, the Beanetics coffee shop in one of the vid's opening images has some of the best coffee/beans you can find in the area, and definitely not what you'd expect wedged in the middle of a strip mall. Anyway, still really appreciate this, and that you don't land on any easy "strip malls = bad" theme. I figured they were a logical outgrowth of suburbs and cars; this was illuminating as to how.

[@sergiovazquez8599]

Along with Not Just Bikes . Perhaps “City Beautiful “ is my favorite KZbin channel for specific topics in urbanism .

[@perspii2808]

Interchange plazas and malls, and crowded chain restaurants more housing developments go up, named after the things they replace so welcome to Minnow Brook, and welcome to Shady Space.

[@floweringgoatboy2389]

I thought of the same song and share the sentiment

[@satana4ever329]

Why is everybody disliking the American culture? I was born and raised in Europe but I love strip malls and urban areas in the US more than whats in Europe

[@marsgal42]

I have a strip mall in my neighbourhood that ticks all the boxes but one: you can see it from the highway, but you access it from the footage road. How to get to that frontage road even confuses locals. :-)

[@docvideo93]

Definitely driven down one of those strip mall frontage roads the wrong way before.

[@th3azscorpio]

Such a wel researched, and explained video. Definitely saving this one.

[@opahoppenstedt2306]

To me as a European, America seems to be a very strange country.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

we are a very weird place Maybe its because most of Europe and it cities were designed for walking and horses while America was designed for cars (the western half anyways)

[@garethbaus5471]

I have lived in the US my entire life and it still seems like a strange country.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@garethbaus5471 i agree

[@atonewiththedust]

Europe good, America bad, here is your le reddit upboat my good Evropean sir!

[@shahimagesyt]

They ever implied that they hates America or say its bad. They are just pointing out that America confuses them in some aspects. Don't know why you are getting so pressed. Now if you are a troll seeking attention then congrats you got what you wanted.

[@SynchroSk8]

The Cat Memes really made me chuckle. As always, love the topics and content. -Bree

[@majorfallacy5926]

Brutally efficient in all the wrong ways

[@Astromancerguy]

I love seeing the shots of SLOtown! I grew up there. I hope to bump into you downtown some time after COVID!

[@langhamp8912]

Strip malls host the best restaurants regardless of price, because the low rent means better ingredients. Although Ioath strip malls, I do find they have, by far, the best ethnic restaurants.

[@matthewcandler4179]

This video answered so many questions I didn't even know I had about why strip malls are so ubiquitous

[@1808Tessa]

I just look at those roofs and imagine how much energy would be saved if used for solar panels.

[@TheHamburgler123]

It's just not economically feasible for most commercial real estate owners. The upfront costs don't justify the long-term savings without generous tax credits which many states don't offer or are outright hostile to. Many utility companies refuse to let you sell power to the grid or to bank energy credits. I think this will start to change as time goes on and solar becomes increasingly efficient and cheaper.

[@goldenstarmusic1689]

Strip malls, though unremarkable, are a humble and welcome addition to a car centric world. As a cyclist, going to the strip mall nearby allows for bicycle+scooter parking, access to groceries, services and other stores that I can just walk between each without needing a car. With upgrades in pedestrian infrastructure they can become great places

[@xxwoman]

I actually enjoy strip malls. Way more than enclosed malls. Haven't been to an enclosed mall in over 10 years.

[@catecrutch]

so glad i found this channel

[@Umar_18]

3:45 10/10 parking for the left suv

[@petitkruger2175]

In the UK, we just have high streets- they are relatively short, busy roads with large pavements and a transport hubs nearby (e.g. a train station, large bus station). Also, most high streets are 100+ years old.

[@tripleq7888]

Yeah exactly, I live in London and I had never heard of a strip mall before this video

[@WiseAssGamer]

I don't know if this is the case everywhere, but in and around my community here on Long Island. They are dolling up many strip malls to look like downtowns. With brick pavement, and those green street lights and an old European aesthetic. It looks nice till you realize, it's a strip mall.

[@luminescent__]

😂 Exactly! ... absolutley NOTHING can take the stigma away from such a crappy structure .. even after all their effort, it's still just "lipstick on a pig"

[@craigcook9715]

That sounds like the "New Urbanism" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Urbanism

[@Kehwanna]

Mock urban living and malls designed as Main Street suburban business districts seems to be the new norm malls along with strip malls are going with. Though at the end of the day it is still another crappy mall with an office park, it is far better than this unholy suburban sprawl setup: www.jrresolutions.com/strip-mall

[@selkrasouza6262]

No matter how dolled up a strip mall is, nothing is going to make the ugly parking lot and highway just beyond it go away.

[@eazydee5757]

In California they make it a Spanish Colonial or Mission aesthetic.

[@h_made_art9238]

When I went to college, the town I went too was basically just giant strip malls. All the parking lots were always empty, probably cause people realized nobody needed their nails done or needed pizza every night. The only place it seemed everywhere spent the most time was the much more walkable, less car infested, inviting downtown, where there was tons of farmers markets and music festivals every month.

[@FroxyCz]

Meanwhile me from Europe: "WTF is a strip mall? Why?"

[@sirBrouwer]

we do have something like strip malls. Here in the Netherlands a lot of neighbourhoods do have a little shopping area. often with two supermarkets (one brand supermarket one discount (Aldi/Lidl) a few smaller shops (a flowershop, barber, pharmacy, a clothing shop, a baker) a pub and or fastfood joint and a ATM. The real big difference is that in between the parking lot and the shop there will be a footpath big enough to walk on comfortingly and have enough space for a few bicycle stands. how ever the are not really being seen as a competition to the shops in the city centre as the shops in the centre are way more diverse.

[@kuyaleinad4195]

We have something very similar in the UK called ‘Retail Parks’ where the format is the same apart from their entrance. Retail parks tend to have their own roundabout exit instead of a simple off ramp at the side of the road unless they’re on the outskirts of a city.

[@silviasanchez648]

I have the same. The documentary doesn't even explain what is it.

[@kattkatt744]

@@sirBrouwer I would still say they are different as they are located in residential areas, usually has a flat above the ground floor shops and are mostly used by people walking or biking there. They don't cater to passing car traffic, but to people living next door.

[@sirBrouwer]

@@kattkatt744 but they still can look very samy. It's our version of a shopping block. The biggest diffrence is the diffrend fasade for the buildings.

[@DevinHeida]

Congrats on 300k subs!

[@Parker307]

Strips malls are so ugly and depressing but I guess we are doomed to them.

[@gavinathling]

We do not have them in England because of planning rules. None of the major parties would tolerate this 'design aesthetic' in their town or city.

[@snaavs]

You get what you deserve! If anything kills them it will be online shopping

[@octorokpie]

@@snaavs I suspect online shopping will bolster them. They're filled with mostly service, not retail. Pet groomers, pizza places, dentists, and hair salons don't exactly ship well via fedex.

[@unvergebeneid]

Some guy wearing too much makeup recently said that satanist pedophile Antifa Marxists cannibals would abolish the suburbs. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about, so I guess the days of the strip mall are numbered, too.

[@Parker307]

@@unvergebeneid Seems legit

[@NDUWUISI]

As someone who grew up around so many strip malls, this video was very informative and helped learn about something that was a big part of my life without even realizing.

[@WilliamMohamad-uv5fi]

I know most people hate strip malls but i actually love strip malls. They give many low income people an opportunity to open their own business and they're very accessible

[@BrokenCurtain]

There's a strip mall near where I live, but it has a tram stop and a metro station right next to it - and the people living in the houses in the neighbourhood can easily access it by foot. It also has a nicely-sized park next to a huge bicycle store that's used for events in non-pandemic times, where people can just relax on the lawn and get a tan.

[@valerianus8632]

In Europe and Germany, we Urban Planner hate these things. They are the killers of urban live and make big streets necessary. We prefer walkable streets and mixed used of smaller structures. Which means specialized owner shopps instead of mass fabrication.

[@lemapp]

In Norfolk, VA, they turned a WWII military airstrip into a mile long strip mall in the late 40’s. It still has its operational name, JANAF, Joint Army Navy Air Force. For decades, it was the principal shopping district until a huge regional mall was built across the street.

[@Kamakiri86]

Another thing you could mention is the fluctuating relationship they have with malls. You mentioned it a little in this video but didn't get into it.

[@andypierce6593]

I’m a latecomer to this conversation, but watching this reminds me that most of my favorite small businesses are located in strip malls. While there’s aspects of the strip mall I hate (mostly the unapproachability for pedestrians & bikes), it’s hard to think of a more effective replacement in existing American suburbs. At the very least I much prefer the strip mall to the enclosed mall, and to freestanding stores in parking lots. And, while I like the feel of places I’ve been where small shops had housing above them, those places usually had a totally different planning model altogether - one I wouldn’t mind emulating for new development, but not exactly something we could just switch to.

[@acommenter]

we use different terms for things in the UK, I was somewhat disappointed to learn this wasn't a shopping centre with strippers.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

You're in luck. Some strip malls do, in fact, have strip joints.

[@douglasthompson9070]

I see that most down town main streets in small towns are basically long strip malls with front row parking. Perhaps this is where the concept comes from, half of a 2 way main street. And main street designs are from the 1800's.

[@karaiwonder]

1:13 Lol! Who would’ve thought GameStop would be such a buzzword some months later

[@wallyocho]

That "Peter Piper Pizza" was down the street from my parents house in Las Vegas, I have so many memories from there. Its an antique shop now.

[@chocolatechipslime]

I noticed a lot of strip malls at least 10 years ago always had a mattress store in it. Are people buying that many mattresses that often?

[@jonathanveach369]

New City Beautiful video? Friday just got a little better! Great content as usual!

[@nickbenton3545]

Using the word ‘entablature’ in the context of a strip mall seems slightly offensive to the history of western architecture

[@nicolaslocks6065]

I think they are very charming i don't live in the US but when I visited it I never had trouble with them

[@chickendog3042]

Ill help everyone who is asking the question is skillshare with it. no probably not. ~95% of all the videos on the site are just slightly modified youtube uploads but you pay for it. youtube is free and better for everything i looked for. There are some courses that are good for photography and editing but they are just as good or better videos free on youtube.

[@jasonplatt2228]

Market Basket at 6:02! Does anyone else remember Market Basket? Not that it was a great market, but now that it's gone, I miss it! Seeing it brings back memories of my youth!

[@trilingualfudge7307]

i'm obviously not a patreon, (nive video btw) but you are one of the people i look up to as i want to be a town planner when i grow up, whenever i tell people that, i always get strange looks or "a TIN planner?" lol. so anyway i was just wondering if there are any negatives to being a town planner, ive heard it can be political etc. but other than that i havent heard a whole lot different. Also, any similar jobs that you could do? any people that you work with who do one of these jobs?

[@gavinathling]

I am not a town plannner, but I suspect you're right. I was once a local politician, and politicians do not, generally, listen to experts when their seat is at risk. Case in point: Trump.

[@trilingualfudge7307]

@@gavinathling true

[@Strideo1]

I just want to be city planner a la "Sim City" or "Cities: Skylines" where I have absolute POWAH!!! MWAHAHA!

[@trilingualfudge7307]

@@Strideo1 i have never actually played either of those games :(

[@ladyicondraco]

I have lived above a strip mall, but the apartment parking was behind the strip mall, and access to the apartments wasn't directly visible from the street. I spoke to someone who worked in the strip mall, and they didn't even know that there were apartments above.

[@ethanmagnuson2988]

Ah yes, the hellish venn diagram of capitalism, car culture, and convenience.

[@kefsound]

Which of the 3 kills more people?

[@tim333y7]

@@kefsound yes

[@tf2scoutpunch175]

@@kefsound Everything kills people.

[@OatmealTheCrazy]

The cccc diagram

[@ethanmagnuson2988]

@@kefsound Definitely capitalism lol

[@brettbuman9045]

Great video! Learned a ton, and I dig your cool background!

[@SFBikerMike]

Enclosed malls were dying before 2019. In the US at least, there's just too much retail square footage competing for too few customers. Why drive to the mall just 4 miles from my house when they just built a shiny new one last year a mere 3 miles away from that one? There are a few strip malls here in California that have a 2nd floor with shopping. I don't think they're unusual because Americans are lazy (though we mostly are), but because the elevators and escalators they require are shockingly expensive to maintain. You'd need a large investment and profit potential to offset their substantial fixed regular expense. But in really expensive markets, apparently the math can work out.

[@mysteryman7877]

"There are 65,000 strip malls all across the United States." Yeah, and at least 5,000 of them exist in Phoenix. Even our enclosed malls are surrounded by strip malls. It's ridiculous.

[@shuandoyle7871]

Objection!

[@AlexCab_49]

I personally hate strip malls. They look ugly with those huge parking lots that feel uncomfortable when you walk thruogh and are the worst aspect of car culture

[@TheJoshuaAstray]

I love shopping in a big enclosed mall, walking store by store in an air-conditioned environment, and having a good meal or maybe watching a movie inside the mall when you are tired. Strip mall can't give me those shopping experience.

[@IntaminFanboy]

I must say, I wasn't expecting as much positivity on strip malls as you presented in this video. But at least I did learn some of the benefits they can offer given how much money-draining sprawl America is covered in. I'd love to something comparing strip malls and 'traditional' downtown-style retail with some numbers.

[@Samuel_Freakin_Adams]

I hate the aesthetic of America. Just strip malls and highways, plastic siding suburbs, rusted out 20th century towns, endless flat plains, it’s just so awful.

[@isakjohansson7134]

I kinda like strip malls, small stores and parking lot with trees, looks pretty nice

[@Seroth88]

Strip malls are not as common here in Sweden, I think it might be because we don't have the same car culture as in the US.

[@phaedrussmith1949]

Very interesting and well done video with good information and some very cool vintage photos of Americana, but you never did answer the question presented: Why are there so many strip malls?

[@petep]

"Love them or hate them..." Hate.

[@JustClaude13]

We called them shopping centers when I was a kid. Malls weren't really a thing anyway. Elcon Shopping Center started expanding backwards by the early '70s and had a second row of shops with a walkway between, then pushed a second aisle at 90 degrees before covering the walkways and becoming a full enclosed mall.

[@LlamitaFiel]

Hmm I thought this was a different kind of mall 😅

[@mardiffv.8775]

Me too.