empty mall > collection of rentable art space

Denton Public Library  Denton, TX
old supermarket > public library

La Grande Orange  Phoenix, AZ
strip center > gourmet grocery & restaurant

Mashpee Commons  Mashpee, MA
strip center > mixed-use urban center, including housing, shops, offices, civic buildings, and open space

University Town Center  Hyattsville, MD
office buildings with huge parking lots > office buildings with housing, cafes, restaurants, and shops

Belmar  Lakewood, CO
large mall on 100-acre super block > 22 walkable urban blocks, public streets, 2 public parks, 8 bus lines, and a range of housing types, all sustainably built and powered with solar panels and wind turbines.


All of these retrofits create destinations out of huge empty spaces. Not just destinations, but new community gathering spaces, "third places". These new developments often give suburbs the "downtown" they never had. They create new pockets of walkability, which revitalize without having to recreate a whole city at once.

Two elements that turn a derelict place into a destination: food and public transit.