Zombie Buildings the Next Threat to American Cities?
First it was Zombie Highways and now Zombie Buildings?! That's the fear of many. Residential real estate fell off a cliff just more than a year ago and maybe, just maybe has found a bottom in many markets. But commercial real estate is a different story and the cliff may be looming in the near future. Increasingly vacant Big Box retail sites have been in the news here lately, but overall St. Louis is not likely to feel the burden of having overbuilt when times were good. To see what others cities are possibly facing check this out:
How is it that virtually all Americans came to think of themselves as "middle class" in the twentieth century? In this cultural history of real estate brokerage, Jeffrey M. Hornstein argues that the rise of the Realtors as dealers in both domestic space and the ideology of home ownership provides tremendous insight into this critical question.
Interesting to see this phenomenon taking place within traditional cities, and next to high value properties like MLB ballparks (STL doesn't know anything about this does it?)
Where are the places that are surviving this crisis? It's the same as asking where are the places that are truly "urban". Does urban mean a particular building style? Many would say yes, I would argue no. Does urbanity require access on foot? Again looking at the places that are surviving and those that are struggling, I'd again say, at the very least, not necessarily. You can argue that urbanity is an energy; a dynamic, entrepreneurial variety of uses, not a physical form.
What's more resiliant in tough economic times, an "urban" condo district next to a government subsidized ballpark or an aging strip mall filled with mom and pop shops in an inner-ring suburb. Look whose still in business.