Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030021
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The reasoning goes like this: Since the abolition of prayer in public schools, children have lost respect for authority, the family has disintegrated, teen pregnancy has risen sharply, SAT scores have declined, and America has lost its competitive edge. Therefore, if we could simply pass a constitutional amendment allowing prayer in our schools, this deplorable trend would be reversed and the United States would once more be the moral, economic, political and social leader of the world.
At the other end of the ideological spectrum: Rush Limbaugh and his copycats, financed no doubt by big business and the religious right, have generated such discontent in this country that people are buying guns in unprecedented numbers, they are replacing entrenched Democrats with extremist Republicans, and they are demanding the withdrawal of federal support for the Public Broadcasting System, which will result in appalling ignorance and cause America to lose its competitive edge. Simply flush Rush, and America will return to the good old days when everyone loved everyone and we could trust the government to solve our intractable social and economic problems.
While each line of reasoning has definite elements of appeal, I would like to propose my own culprit for our decadence - malls. Rather than loss of public piety or inflammatory talk shows, I believe that it is the mushrooming of malls that is destroying our nation. This pernicious fungal growth must be stopped and even reversed.
Thanks to zillions of malls littering the suburbs, our downtowns have become pathetic shells harboring the desperate in our society, fueling the rise in crime and drug use. Precious land has been leveled, scraped and desecrated by the erection of dozens of shops selling items that no one needs. Noxious pollution is added to our atmosphere as people drive for miles to park free on the acres of asphalt that surround these eyesores.
Hapless consumers are lured by lavish displays of endless products offering a life of fulfillment and success in exchange for a lifetime of credit-card debt. Instead of spending after-school hours engaged in wholesome activities such as kick the can or touch football, teen-agers head for the malls to hang out and buy expensive clothing that looks like it has been pulled out of a dumpster.
It is clear that the mall culture has led to the decay of our cities, degradation of our environment, rise of personal debt and decadence of our youth. These trends have generated a pervasive anxiety leading to a rise in teen pregnancy, appalling incivility, distrust of the government, decreased worker productivity and a loss of our competitive edge
I firmly reject the myth of the "good-old days," but permit me to wax nostalgic about shopping 35 years ago. We were living in Baltimore at the time, and the downtown had not yet been destroyed by massive suburban development. In the heart of the mercantile district stood four major department stores, all within a block of one another.
One of the stores, Hutzler's, featured a huge parking facility within the store itself. You simply left your car with a parking attendant and entered the store at the second floor, right into ladies' ready-to-wear. Purchases were delivered to the garage and would be waiting for you at the end of your shopping excursion. If Hutzler's did not have the lamp shade you sought, you simply crossed the street to Stewart's to check out its inventory. Should you make a purchase at Stewart's - and I am not making this up - your package would be sent to the Hutzler's parking garage and piled up with the rest of your parcels.
So after a leisurely hour or two, you would refresh yourself with a malt at the store's soda fountain, then head for the garage, burdened only by your purse and perhaps a few small items. The car would be delivered to you for a tip, as parking was free if you bought anything, and your parcels would be placed in your car by a cheerful attendant. Furthermore, for those without cars, buses stopped at the intersection near these department stores, and service was frequent.
As residents of the city were lured to the suburbs with the promise of lawns, two-car garages and nice neighbors, the stores moved too. And a huge centrifugal force flung these "anchor" stores to the four corners of Oz. Thus, if one store did not satisfy your shopping needs, you were forced onto a clogged beltway to drive 45 minutes to the store that once had been a block away. While the increase in frustration, tension and general grouchiness was unquantifiable, we all know the consequences: an increase in drug abuse, a rise in teen pregnancy, and a loss of our competitive edge.
Imagine my disappointment when we moved to Roanoke to see the same trend in place. Valley View had just been completed, destroying irreplaceable farmland and initiating the decline of Crossroads, a shopping center that had only recently contributed to the loss of retail stores in the downtown. It is only a matter of time before the Wal-Marts in Daleville and Boones Mill take their toll on Valley View.
There are those who claim that our social and economic problems are complex and defy easy solutions. Perhaps. But as long as everyone else is proposing simple solutions to our nation's deplorable state, I want my idea considered. Imagine a world without malls. Ahhhhhhh.
Susie Fetter of Roanoke serves on the board of the League of Women Voters.
by CNB