The number of lanes drops by 2, plus the on-ramp traffic, plus something about the bridge making everything slow down.

Rewatching Mr Robot. It’s been about 3 years and it’s so amazing watching it back through knowing everything. Such a well done show.

Neil Young - live at Massey Hall is a fitting backdrop for today.

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Despite traffic Short Pump is super accessible. Being close to I-64 is a major asset. I used to work in site selection - one of the main stats real estate developers look at is average daily traffic counts nearby. In that regard - Short Pump is tremendously better located than Stony Point and the traffic is an asset rather than a detriment because it’s more eyeballs and foot traffic to your location.

Short Pump is not an apples to apples comparison for the malls that are dying. First, It’s well located for the (growing) demographic that tends to frequent and spend money in such places. Second, It’s in great condition, and has good tenants relative to other malls in the area. This is more a symptom rather than a driver of success though. Third, It’s not as heavily department store focused as a traditional mall is, which are falling out of favor with consumers. One of its department store tenants even closed (Nordstrom). That certainly hurts as the owners now have lots of vacant space not making any money, but the mall has other draws, bringing up the fourth point: It has lots of mixed use (especially restaurants and hotels) so you can spend extended time there, or come if your primary reason isn’t shopping.

All of those make it a metro area-wide draw as well as a regional draw. I know people from VA Beach that come up for annual back to school shopping.

A “certain” type of mall is dying. Short Pump isnt that - it’s the evolution of what the traditional mall used to be. The giveaway is in the name - town center. Compare it to Tysons in NOVA - there’s enough there to be a regional and metro-wide draw. Other malls in NOVA that are more traditional are closing or have already closed or are being converted to mixed use. Think the old Ballston Mall becoming the Ballston Quarter.

Stony Point is kind of an exception and a unique case - I would hypothesize that even though it’s newer, RVA metro area isn’t big enough for two similar draws that compete for similar tenants. It’s also much harder to get to vs Short Pump, especially for the demographic it’s designed for who primarily live north of the river.