Shopping New Urban Style

I just came back from a trip through Ohio where we visited two “new urban” shopping or rather lifestyle centers. This is the next generation of the shopping mall and I really like it. I’ve never been much of a mall person to begin with. In this “new urban” shopping destination stores are laid out along streets in a town-like atmosphere.

Our first stop was the The Greene in Beavercreek. Beavercreek was/is a farming community that is fast becoming a booming suburb of Dayton. The new urbanism mind set may well save the lovely countryside in this area through the development of high density centers like The Greene. For many of us when we hear high density, we think ugh, claustrophobia, high rise buildings. Well, that’s not the case with new urbanism design. The area is visually attractive, walkable and takes up LESS SPACE than traditional new developments! Another bonus…there are quaint European looking apartments with balconies on top of some of the stores. This will appeal to young couples and professionals who aren’t ready to purchase a home.

Next on our trip was the Legacy Village in the east suburbs of Cleveland. Again, beautiful architecture, fabulous stores and people everywhere! For a city worried about hanging on to its young families and professionals, the Legacy development could not have come at a better time. I just hope they don’t stop with shopping facilities. For a real community we need a mixture of interesting housing types close by and I didn’t see too much of that with Legacy Village.

Hooray for the demise of the boring suburban mall and shopping plaza! Let’s build community and protect our Green space. New urban design isn’t perfect just yet but it is surely taking hold and making significant improvements where we live and work.