• A model for mall reuse in Portland

    It’s no secret that large numbers of US malls are in deep trouble, having lost anchor tenants, and many of them are in foreclosure. In his 10 th Anniversary edition of Walkable City , Jeff Speck reports that “Fully a quarter of US malls aren’t expected to hang on through 2025.” Some high-volume...Read more

  • Walkable downtown created from a suburban office complex

    Doral, known for a golf course and sprawl, has partnered with a developer to create a walkable downtown on the site of a former nondescript office park, reusing existing infrastructure.
    When incorporated 20 years ago, Doral, Florida, consisted of a collection of gated subdivisions, shopping centers, warehouse and industrial districts, a world-renowned golf course, and notoriously clogged arterial roads, according to DPZ CoDesign. There was no downtown or walkable neighborhood of...Read more

  • Commercial strip becomes mixed-use promenade

    In the Capitol East District, the City of Madison has created a model for redeveloping a commercial strip highway.
    The potential of transforming commercial strip corridors is fully on display in the Capitol East District of Madison, Wisconsin. US Highway 151 (East Washington Street) is one of many thoroughfares that radiate out from the state capitol building in all directions—an area once blighted by shuttered...Read more

  • From failed mall to downtown core, a city takes charge

    Downtown Westminster in Westminster, Colorado, is the redevelopment of a former mall into a walkable center, led by the city. Torti Gallas + Partners won a Merit Award in the Neighborhood, District, and Corridor category of the 2023 CNU Charter Awards.
    A large number of malls are dying nationwide—but in most cases, a city or town just lets a developer or investor determine the fate of a property, if there is a market for reusing the site. That’s not what city leaders in Westminster, Colorado, did when the 40-year-old Westminster Mall declined in...Read more