Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 35(1): January 2009 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2009. 35(1):33– 40. 33 Strip Malls, City Trees, and Community Values Kathleen L. Wolf Abstract. Strip malls (also known as mini-malls) are a common urban land use, historically promoted by U.S. zoning practices that concentrate retail and commercial development in a narrow band along arterials and major streets. More recently, communities are redeveloping mini-mall zones, expanding landscape plantings as biotechnology, and attempting to create a sense of place. This study assessed public response to urban forest and landscape options. Surveys depicted varied roadside, property-edge treatments. Residents of three major cities in the Pacific Northwest, U.S., were asked to indicate their preferences and perceptions concerning a four-concept framework: visual quality, retail perceptions, patronage behavior, and pricing for goods and services. Respondents preferred landscaped roadsides and report positive retail behavior such as willingness-to-pay 8.8% more for goods and services in well-landscaped malls. Roadside management guidelines are proposed based on the research results. Key Words. Contingent valuation; mall; preference; public response; retail; roadside; survey; visual quality. Strip malls have become a prevalent commercial land use through- out the United States. They offer small-scale retail and commer- cial services and products, generally serving local communities. These commercial hubs are often deplored for their inefficient use of space and lack of visual quality, yet they are often the product of local zoning practices that encourage concentration of small businesses in off-street centers. Many communities are interested in either improving the visual quality of new commercial corridors or redeveloping existing commercial streets to better align with community val- ues concerning sustainability. Survey research was done to learn more about public perceptions of urban strip malls and to sug- gest landscape practices for communities or developers who want to improve the visual quality of a strip mall setting. Prior stud- ies show positive shopper inferences about businesses in central business districts having a quality landscape (Wolf 2005). Similar principles and methods were used to explore public response to strip mall landscape alternatives. BACKGROUND Mini-Malls The first strip mall shopping center in the United States was the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, built in the 1920s (Strip Mall 2007). Strip malls (also known as mini-malls) are now ubiquitous in urbanized areas, consisting of a row of multiple (usu- ally connected) storefronts having associated off-street parking. Although fairly new in human history, the strip mall reflects ancient commercial planning; a road focuses the movement of people and some of those passersby will want to buy something. Because many U.S. cities conduct single-use zoning, retail and commercial zones are often concentrated in a narrow band along arterials and highways with residential communities located nearby. Mini-malls are service-oriented and usually contain small- scale stores that serve everyday needs of nearby residents (such as a video store or a small restaurant). They serve dual purposes of shopping convenience for nearby residential communities and provide relatively inexpensive retail spaces for startup and small businesses. Therein lies the tension. Built at fairly low cost, and visible to thousands who drive by each day, strip malls are crit- icized for being ugly, contributing to the demise of traditional business districts, and reducing social interactions among shop- pers. Nonetheless, strip mall architecture is simple and sturdy, maximizing usable space while keeping real estate costs low. Businesses having slim profit margins and low capital reserves are able to rent or lease affordable retail space and offer basic goods and services to a community (Stewart 2005). Urban Landscape Assessment Landscape assessment studies have been used since the 1960s to explore public perceptions and values associated with landscapes and their management. Generally, people of all ages and cultural backgrounds prefer natural views to built settings, and unkept nature in urban settings is less preferred than well-maintained nature. The presence of trees generally enhances public judgment of visual quality in cities (Ulrich 1986; Smardon 1988; Dwyer et al. 1994). Urban scenes containing trees (particularly large ones) are consistently highly preferred (Ulrich 1986), and the general public rates the benefits of urban trees highly (Lohr et al. 2004). Plants contribute to roadside visual quality. In a California study (Evans and Wood 1980), people judged simulations of pro- posed residential development for scenic quality and preferred highly vegetated highway corridors. Van passengers recorded attractiveness ratings for urban roadside views in Minnesota (Nassauer and Larson 2004); highest values were awarded to road segments having nature features and well-designed plant- ings and structural elements. A national study found that driv- ers prefer urban expressway landscapes having large trees that screen adjacent commercial properties (Wolf 2003, 2006). Community Economics Psychologic assessments of urban landscapes suggest that aes- thetic response is more than a mere reaction to what is beautiful or pleasant, but is an expression of a complex array of percep- tual and cognitive processes (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989). Public responses have economic consequences. Talented workers and ©2009 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2009
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