M(u)alling Over the Future of Shopping

Malls are, perhaps, the most obvious symbol of consumption in the US. Allison Arieff, in her [By Design blog](http://arieff.blogs.nytimes.com/), [reports on the recent convention](http://arieff.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/rethinking-the-mall/) of the International Council on Shopping Centers. > At the 2009 International Council on Shopping Centers convention held in Las Vegas last month, pedestrian-oriented development was not top of mind (though in a 3.2 million-square-foot convention center, walking was a defining part of the experience). Despite a nearly 50 percent drop in attendance from prior years, most talk at ICSC was of how business as usual could resume once “things came back.” > The addictive nature… Read More

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GM and Sustainabiity

Again I go to David Brooks for the theme of today’s post. [Brooks’ column](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/opinion/02brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion) was all about the GM bankruptcy and the quagmire that it has become for all those who have to deal with it. But that’s not all of what I saw in the article. Brooks has focused on the culture at GM as the cause of the quagmire and infers that none of the steps that are being taken will do much to change it. > Bureaucratic restructuring won’t fix the company. Clever financing schemes won’t fix the company. G.M.’s core problem is its corporate and workplace… Read More

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Being in Philadelphia

Once again, the NYTimes [“Happy Days” blog](http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/) has a great story about what **being** is all about. Philosopher and shrinks talk about being and happiness, but the place to find either is out there in real life. Linh Dinh, a writer living in Philadelphia, authored [today’s column.](http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/get-together-slim-down/?ref=opinion) The lines that I found most illuminating were these coming after a lot of talk about the seamy side of Philly. > Economically, my life is one long depression, punctuated by rare episodes of relative affluence, which to me is the cash to buy any entrée costing more than 10 bucks. But am… Read More

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