Bike Rides and Outlet Malls

This weekend, I did a ride down to Cambridge, Ontario (~30 miles round trip)--I biked there in April and wrote about it. It was beautiful weather for a ride; I had been meaning to do this because I have been exploring new routes and trails to get down there. My current route keeps me off the main roads (except for one stretch crossing over the 401 highway), and cuts my time down to about 1 hour (from 1.5 hours last time).

While I was down there, I ran across the Southworks Outlet Mall--an old foundry building from 1874 that was converted into retail space.



I have mixed feelings about this mall ... it's wonderful that a great old building like this is still being used, as opposed to being razed in favor of a tilt-up concrete box store complex. Some could view this as a tribute to and demonstration of the adaptability of buildings over time, which I also think of as a great thing. And it has moved from being a smoke-belching, toxic-foundry-sand-producing element in the center of town to a much 'cleaner' use.

But I find the fact that the use has changed from heavy industry to an outlet mall a bit depressing: the evolution of this building has taken it from the production of real goods to creating an upscale retail shopping experience. Our buildings, and perhaps our lives, are becoming more and more trivial in purpose. It's like that wag that the U.S. economy will soon be composed entirely of importing things from China and selling real estate to each other (Anybody know the source of that line? Google hasn't helped me there.)

I guess there's a reason why shopping malls in general give me the willies. Too much concentrated 'shopping experience' for me, thanks. Also, I've read too much about how malls are designed to extract more money out of consumers. E.g., the clear glass handrails let people on different floors see, "Oh, there's a store I should go to." And the floor layouts are deliberately confusing, so that people will spend more time wandering and impulse shopping. I believe that info is from Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say by Douglas Rushkoff.

Anyway, on a less philosphical note in regards to outlet malls, see this Cat and Girl strip.