The gradual fade-out of marginal malls has prompted a thriving Web culture dedicated to sharing information about dead or dying properties. Sites such as Flickr.com, Deadmalls.com and Labelscar.com are drawing traffic from mall employees, shoppers and other mall mourners who swap stories, photos and predictions about the status of centers on their way out.
The Apache Plaza was the saddest mall in the land (The City pages famously named it “best place to dump somebody” in their annual poll) until it was razed a few years ago to make room for a Walmart. Now, that title is held by Brookdale.
I was fascinated to stumble upon your blog–I had no idea there were places like Deadmalls and Labelscar; cataloguing the demise of properties is such a fascinating (and seemingly American)idea.
At First Person Arts, we’re looking for documentary photographers to help spread the word about our nationwide competition First Person America: In These Hard Times.
We’re a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to memoir and documentary art in all forms, and this year our goal is to attract essays, photos and films from all 50 states documenting how individuals and communities are coping with economic challenges. You can find out more about the competition, prizes and judges at http://firstpersonamerica.org