Shopping malls across the city and across the nation are closing their doors or re-imagining their futures. With the recent closure of Metro North and a meeting called to gather community input on redevelopment possibilities for Metcalf South, Central Standard convened local experts to look back on the significance of the shopping mall, in our city and in our lives.
Our panelists talked about everything from the unspoken role of race in the stories of shopping malls to the ways in which suburbs compete with downtown and other suburbs for shoppers and dollars. Callers, including a few self-professed "mall-walkers," weighed in with their ideas about the future of malls.
Midway through the show, we played a montage combining audio from shopping mall scenes in popular movies. The movies referenced were:
- Blues Brothers
- Clueless
- Mean Girls
- Mall Rats
- The Hot Chick
- True Stories
The song at the end of the clip was "Let's Go To The Mall" by Robin Sparkle.
LANE4 Property Group is hosting two public meetings to gather community input on the future of Metcalf South. The first meeting is at 7 PM Thursday, April 24. The second will take place at 7 PM Tuesday, April 29. Both meetings will be held at the Matt Ross Community Center, 8101 Marty Street in Overland Park, Kan.
Guests:
- Michael Frisch, Professor of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, UMKC
- Lewis Diuguid, Columnist and Member of the Editorial Board, The Kansas City Star
- Steve Vockrodt, Reporter, The Pitch