4 ms·

They are probably right about the optics. Who would want to take, say, craft classes inside a dying building symbolizing the cons of modern life.

Groxx 4y ago
Personally, and for many family friends who live where I grew up, near a smallish mall that has been dead for over a decade: tons of people. We'd all love to see the space being used, rather than rotting slowly. There was a lot of community activity when it temporarily reopened for a few events and as an indoor walking space (in between events) several years ago. edit: bulldozing it and putting something else in that place would also be fine, but that costs a fair bit. and really, even just having a big indoor walking space was quite popular, there were several meetups using it, lots of elderly walkers and readers, etc. it was nowhere near as popular as a Walmart of course, but it transformed into a pseudo-public space for a while and it made me realize that "indoor parks" are kinda not a thing, but maybe they should be. particularly in places with a lot of rain or cold. that, and a big rotting building in the middle of town is rather unambiguously worse optics for the area than even small use. it inevitably gets covered in graffiti and damage, and even minor use prevents that a lot.
- pnutjam 4y ago
  A colocation space took over one of ours for a data center. It's nice inside, but the outside is still a dump, probably worse then before. It's an eyesore and there is no investment in the community or the area around the data center.
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    That's interesting. It makes sense of course -- the data center isn't selling to customers who come in via foot traffic, so why beautify the outside? A data center seems a bit interesting from a zoning point of view for that reason -- not incentivized to beautify; but not as bad as industrial, not a ton of possibly dangerous waste products... I guess a not-actively-damaging source of tax revenue is always welcome in a town.
    - prottog 4y ago
      > so why beautify the outside? Private investors could certainly choose to take a small hit to their return and take pride in how their investment looks from the outside. There's value in that.
      - bee_rider 4y ago
        Sure! It just isn't a core business need, unlike in the case of a mall.
- philwelch 4y ago
  > it made me realize that "indoor parks" are kinda not a thing, but maybe they should be. particularly in places with a lot of rain or cold Or heat.
JohnFen 4y ago
Presumably, they'd fix it up so it's not a dying building -- and it wouldn't symbolize the cons of modern life anymore. It would symbolize building a future in more ways than one.
function_seven 4y ago
The building isn't dying. The businesses that once occupied it are. If you move into it, and have an active student body there every day, then it's not dead anymore, right? It's thriving with activity. The people wanting to take craft classes are probably not going to ruminate over whether the classroom they're in was once a Foot Locker. I mean, as long as you aren't lazy about converting the space (i.e. take down the old signage and ditch the black and white stripes). Look at the sibling comment to yours. There's a short video about Austin's CC. The place looks great!
toast0 4y ago
Someone who is on a bus route that goes to the mall (typically, lots of routes will go to the mall, there may be a transit center there as well), or wants to take a class but not deal with the expense and congestion of college parking lots. Mall parking lots can be congested too, but when the mall is struggling to get tenants, their parking lots are mostly empty and easy to use.

Groxx 4y ago

Personally, and for many family friends who live where I grew up, near a smallish mall that has been dead for over a decade: tons of people. We'd all love to see the space being used, rather than rotting slowly. There was a lot of community activity when it temporarily reopened for a few events and as an indoor walking space (in between events) several years ago. edit: bulldozing it and putting something else in that place would also be fine, but that costs a fair bit. and really, even just having a big indoor walking space was quite popular, there were several meetups using it, lots of elderly walkers and readers, etc. it was nowhere near as popular as a Walmart of course, but it transformed into a pseudo-public space for a while and it made me realize that "indoor parks" are kinda not a thing, but maybe they should be. particularly in places with a lot of rain or cold. that, and a big rotting building in the middle of town is rather unambiguously worse optics for the area than even small use. it inevitably gets covered in graffiti and damage, and even minor use prevents that a lot.

pnutjam 4y ago
A colocation space took over one of ours for a data center. It's nice inside, but the outside is still a dump, probably worse then before. It's an eyesore and there is no investment in the community or the area around the data center.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  That's interesting. It makes sense of course -- the data center isn't selling to customers who come in via foot traffic, so why beautify the outside? A data center seems a bit interesting from a zoning point of view for that reason -- not incentivized to beautify; but not as bad as industrial, not a ton of possibly dangerous waste products... I guess a not-actively-damaging source of tax revenue is always welcome in a town.
  - prottog 4y ago
    > so why beautify the outside? Private investors could certainly choose to take a small hit to their return and take pride in how their investment looks from the outside. There's value in that.
    - bee_rider 4y ago
      Sure! It just isn't a core business need, unlike in the case of a mall.
philwelch 4y ago
> it made me realize that "indoor parks" are kinda not a thing, but maybe they should be. particularly in places with a lot of rain or cold Or heat.

JohnFen 4y ago

Presumably, they'd fix it up so it's not a dying building -- and it wouldn't symbolize the cons of modern life anymore. It would symbolize building a future in more ways than one.

function_seven 4y ago

The building isn't dying. The businesses that once occupied it are. If you move into it, and have an active student body there every day, then it's not dead anymore, right? It's thriving with activity. The people wanting to take craft classes are probably not going to ruminate over whether the classroom they're in was once a Foot Locker. I mean, as long as you aren't lazy about converting the space (i.e. take down the old signage and ditch the black and white stripes). Look at the sibling comment to yours. There's a short video about Austin's CC. The place looks great!

toast0 4y ago

Someone who is on a bus route that goes to the mall (typically, lots of routes will go to the mall, there may be a transit center there as well), or wants to take a class but not deal with the expense and congestion of college parking lots. Mall parking lots can be congested too, but when the mall is struggling to get tenants, their parking lots are mostly empty and easy to use.