Shopping and New Urbanism

Welcome back!

One of the many things I like about new urbanism is that it helps us to shift around our notion of the suburban or urban shopping experience.

OUT – is the long, environmentally un-friendly trek in the car to the big boring mall.

IN – is a walk, stroll or bike ride to the nearest “lifestyle” shopping area or urban market. Translation: shops, markets and offices located on streets and in areas close to where we live and play.

OUT – is the enclosed warehouse shopping “experience” with all the indoor rubber plants and skylights to simulate the outdoors.

IN – is the “old fashioned” outdoor experience of shopping. Once I leave a store I like to breathe in fresh air (that’s usually because I really don’t like shopping – shhh). The picture at right is a pedestrian mall – part of the newly developed lifestyle shopping destination in Charlottesville, VA. Great for people like me who love to stroll and sit outdoors

Take a look around your neighborhood and region. You just might find one of these new “lifestyle” shopping centers or cool urban markets. What a great opportunity to shake up your shopping experience!

Remember – don’t ignore your cities! Sensitive development or re-development is not just happening in the suburbs but in cities too. Around the country visionary entrepreneurs and enterprising developers are reshaping older parts of cities to make them more inviting to residents and visitors.

It’s the urban re-developments that I find really exciting because of the energy, life and resources they bring to old city neighborhoods in need. Ultimately schools and recreational facilities for city families, students and seniors benefit when the tax base increases with this influx of new business and residents.

Cleveland, Ohio is one city doing a lot with its urban neighborhoods. The picture at the top of this post is from the city’s West Side Market (a farmers’ market for city dwellers) and here is a picture from Cleveland’s popular Coventry neighborhood.

If shopping is in your blood you might also want to visit my friend Chele Neisler’s site Moms Love Shopping for all things shopping, all the time .