The Recession's Interesting Effect on Malls

We're coming out of (?) the worst recession to hit the U.S. since the advent of the shopping mall, and these largely suburban phenomena have taken a big hit. But there's an upshot: in some places, the malls are being re-purposed for uses that are arguably more valuable to the public. Quoted in the NYT piece is Georgia Tech professor Ellen Dunham-Jones, who is a national expert on the subject, as evidenced by the title of her fascinating book, Retrofitting Suburbia. Though some suburban Atlanta malls are taking their licks, we've yet to see any full-on conversions. Stay tuned. [NYT]