Bannister Mall: Urban exploring the pre-demolished

[kcdcchef]

that shit just makes me sick to look at. that place was the most awesome mall to go to in the 1980;s, nicest mall in the entire metro area to hang out at. considered the nicest metro area mall period, you went to metro north, oak park, blue ridge, anything, all people would say was they all pailed in comparison to bannister. then the hyper mart opened, that neighborhood was the shit. short lived.

legends fans, look closely. and take notes!

[trailerkid]

that shit just makes me sick to look at. that place was the most awesome mall to go to in the 1980;s, nicest mall in the entire metro area to hang out at. considered the nicest metro area mall period, you went to metro north, oak park, blue ridge, anything, all people would say was they all pailed in comparison to bannister. then the hyper mart opened, that neighborhood was the shit. short lived.

legends fans, look closely. and take notes!

It is definitely sickening to see how disposable our consumer culture (both in KC and nationally) truly is. Here one day and gone the next. Sad...

Legends is not the only place that needs to "take notes"...suburban fad retailing happens in every single corner of this metro. We have empty big boxes all over the inner 'burbs and will only have a lot more in places like Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Liberty, Olathe, etc. in another 20 years. The way we let the retail shift outward into exurbia so quickly in this metro is one of the reasons it looks like such a shithole on the outside.

Bannister was just let to get so bad that there was no coming back as an indoor mall. I don't know how you reverse things once the anchors bail and the public perception is that it's a "ghetto" mall. The mall should've closed in the early 2000s for a 2-year extensive remodeling similar to what they did with West County in StL. They could've updated the interior, brought in new anchors, added IKEA next door etc. all with the help of a TIF or taxing district instead of the giant bulldoze/redo they're attempting right now. There are massive, pseudo-urban malls that do fine so I'm sick of hearing how the demos destroyed the mall. Bad management killed Bannister...it could've been like a Galleria with Coporate Woods style highrises attached-- SKC could've been developed in the 90s as an answer to College Blvd. 

[Highlander]

It is definitely sickening to see how disposable our consumer culture (both in KC and nationally) truly is. Here one day and gone the next. Sad...

Legends is not the only place that needs to "take notes"...suburban fad retailing happens in every single corner of this metro. We have empty big boxes all over the inner 'burbs and will only have a lot more in places like Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Liberty, Olathe, etc. in another 20 years. The way we let the retail shift outward into exurbia so quickly in this metro is one of the reasons it looks like such a shithole on the outside.

Bannister was just let to get so bad that there was no coming back as an indoor mall. I don't know how you reverse things once the anchors bail and the public perception is that it's a "ghetto" mall. The mall should've closed in the early 2000s for a 2-year extensive remodeling similar to what they did with West County in StL. They could've updated the interior, brought in new anchors, added IKEA next door etc. all with the help of a TIF or taxing district instead of the giant bulldoze/redo they're attempting right now. There are massive, pseudo-urban malls that do fine so I'm sick of hearing how the demos destroyed the mall. Bad management killed Bannister...it could've been like a Galleria with Coporate Woods style highrises attached-- SKC could've been developed in the 90s as an answer to College Blvd. 

What you describe is pretty much the evolution of all American cities where land costs are not an issue.  They behave like Fairy Rings in that they consistently grow outward leaving a dead patch in their wake because they consume land faster than their population growth can fill that land in.  It's only a matter of time before Oak Park suffers a similar fate (although I doubt if it ever sinks to the level of Bannister Mall).  I'm surprised Oak Park has kept its ascendency for so long considering the shift in wealth to the south.  It's great to see that urban centers like the Plaza in long, well established residential and business areas continue to go strong. 

One thing I love about European cities is that you do not see this kind of fleeting commercial activity across cities.  Commercial hubs have been where they are seemingly forever and although new ones are added on the outskirts of cities, they seem to have no ill effect on the established commercial centers which mostly remain in the city centers where transportation hubs are.  Because our commercial hubs are mostly in the burbs where transportation is an issue, it's almost impossible for a center like Bannister Mall to draw from a larger population base when the socio-economic well being of its own local area starts to drop.  Nobody is willing to leave their own area to shop in a mall that is perceived to be dangerous and offer less than what is nearby.  Like you said it's a virtually an unbreakable positive feedback loop once the center starts to go into decline.  Ward Parkway is one of the few malls that have been able to reinvent itself and survive after the initial onset of decline.     

[shinatoo]

What you describe is pretty much the evolution of all American cities where land costs are not an issue.  They behave like Fairy Rings in that they consistently grow outward leaving a dead patch in their wake because they consume land faster than their population growth can fill that land in.  It's only a matter of time before Oak Park suffers a similar fate (although I doubt if it ever sinks to the level of Bannister Mall).   I'm surprised Oak Park has kept its ascendency for so long considering the shift in wealth to the south.  It's great to see that urban centers like the Plaza in long, well established residential and business areas continue to go strong. 

One thing I love about European cities is that you do not see this kind of fleeting commercial activity across cities.  Commercial hubs have been where they are seemingly forever and although new ones are added on the outskirts of cities, they seem to have no ill effect on the established commercial centers which mostly remain in the city centers where transportation hubs are.  Because our commercial hubs are mostly in the burbs where transportation is an issue, it's almost impossible for a center like Bannister Mall to draw from a larger population base when the socio-economic well being of its own local area starts to drop.  Nobody is willing to leave their own area to shop in a mall that is perceived to be dangerous and offer less than what is nearby.  Like you said it's a virtually an unbreakable positive feedback loop once the center starts to go into decline.  Ward Parkway is one of the few malls that have been able to reinvent itself and survive after the initial onset of decline.       

I'll add to that in American cities you are seeing the trend where the inter city devalues so much that developers are able to come back in, clear the land and redevelop it. Erasing what went up there in the first place. However, is this really different than the European style? Or are they at the end of hundreds of years of a similar cycle (but without so much sprawl because of obvious transportation differences). By the end I mean have they finally redeveloped the central core to the point that all of the land is occupied with high value buildings of lasting construction, rather than the equivalent of post war prefab ranches.

[Highlander]

I'll add to that in American cities you are seeing the trend where the inter city devalues so much that developers are able to come back in, clear the land and redevelop it. Erasing what went up there in the first place. However, is this really different than the European style? Or are they at the end of hundreds of years of a similar cycle (but without so much sprawl because of obvious transportation differences). By the end I mean have they finally redeveloped the central core to the point that all of the land is occupied with high value buildings of lasting construction, rather than the equivalent of post war prefab ranches.

European cities simply have not undergone anything like the evolution American cities have.  The core has ALWAYS been the center of commerce.  While large companies may be housed in the European version of the burbs now (buildings in the core weren't built to accommodate large companies), the city centers are still overwhelmingly the center of commerce and entertainment.  Where I live, there is an upstart development along the beach but a concentrated downtown area still has 95% of the cities restaurants, bars and shops.  Even after WWI when city centers were largely destroyed in much of central Europe, they still rebuilt the cities from the center out.  It's all due to the availability of land.  In Europe, land costs and government policy discouraged sprawl and quite the opposite has occurred in the US where policy has encouraged sprawl (except perhaps on the east coast where older cities and land costs have created denser cities). 

[AllThingsKC]

Just FYI...

This thread is being talked about on Chiefs Planet right now.


See the very last post on this page (and then select the page numbers to read the comments):
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[FangKC]

It's so disheartening to see a perfectly good building that is structurally sound be demolished and turned into landfill.

Maybe aliens should wipe us out.

[kucer]

Just FYI...

This thread is being talked about on Chiefs Planet right now.


See the very last post on this page (and then select the page numbers to read the comments):
http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthre ... 84&page=11

Made its way to phog.net the other day too.