when i was first in seattle, i went to a mall and thought it was really dumb. it was an outdoor mall like all of those big box “malls” that have sprung up, but it had normal mall stores (like gap, abercrombie etc). it was also designed such that it looked like a town square and not a mall itself. anyways, i thought it was really dumb because you know, seattle is known for rain and when it rains you can’t really walk around an outdoor mall can you?

well i was wrong. first in that it didn’t rain that much, and second because it wasn’t really a dumb idea. it turns out that this was just one of many “lifestyle centers” that have begun appearing all over america. the faux town square look is not actually public property but actually part of the mall itself.

now instead of hanging around the food court, ghetto kids can appear to be bums.