Posted May 7, 200916 yr Belmar is a public/private partnership redevelopment of the old Villa Italia Mall. The redevelopment began in 2002 and includes the development of 22 block street grid on 104 acres in the middle of Lakewood, CO (pop. 144,000). Lakewood is a inner ring suburb on the westside of Denver. The project is about 50% complete at this time with a tenative completion date of 2012. Hopefully more older urban malls will be redeveloped with traditional urban concepts (street grids, pedestrian oriented, mixed use) in the US.
May 7, 200916 yr Wow, the Villa Italia Mall. Christ. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 7, 200916 yr What does it look like in Person? It looks like a bunch of new fangled crap that will be dated in the next decade.
May 7, 200916 yr What does it look like in Person? It looks like a bunch of new fangled crap that will be dated in the next decade. The infrastructure layout (pedestrian environment, mixed use) is actually pretty good. Some of the construction quailty was crappy. It just depended on the builder. Some of the buildings looked better than others. My overall feeling was, this is much better than a giant mall and parking lot.
May 8, 200916 yr Looks slightly contrived like many of these projects do...although it probably is an improvement over what previously existed.
May 8, 200916 yr So... it's a lifestyle center... on a grid. I guess better than a lifestyle center in the middle of a bunch of surface lots and garages.
May 8, 200916 yr What does it look like in Person? It looks like a bunch of new fangled crap that will be dated in the next decade. Yeah, they said that about the Georgian era, then the Victorian era, and so on. :roll: We both dream Ruskin's dream but lets face it - stuff like this is here to stay a while. We might as well embrace it.
May 8, 200916 yr What does it look like in Person? It looks like a bunch of new fangled crap that will be dated in the next decade. Yeah, they said that about the Georgian era, then the Victorian era, and so on. ::) Look stalker ;) , that stuff just look so "blase" to me. How will this modern looking stuff look in a decade?? What sets it apart and at the same time makes it unique, like Gerogian or Victorian?
May 8, 200916 yr The mixture of different (often unique) materials used. They collide, but intentionally.
May 8, 200916 yr The mixture of different (often unique) materials used. They collide, but intentionally. We all have different opionis on what is "nice", "ugly" etc., this project based soley on the pictures I've viewed looks slapped together. Yeah, I'm biased as I like older structures, but I just don't like the "look" of the project.
May 8, 200916 yr The mixture of different (often unique) materials used. They collide, but intentionally. We all have different opionis on what is "nice", "ugly" etc., this project based soley on the pictures I've viewed looks slapped together. Yeah, I'm biased as I like older structures, but I just don't like the "look" of the project. What is your objective standard?
May 8, 200916 yr The mixture of different (often unique) materials used. They collide, but intentionally. We all have different opionis on what is "nice", "ugly" etc., this project based soley on the pictures I've viewed looks slapped together. Yeah, I'm biased as I like older structures, but I just don't like the "look" of the project. What is your objective standard? I love prewar buildings.
May 8, 200916 yr Interesting. I've never lived in anything new. My parents house, my house were both built in the late 20/early 30s. I just think the new fangled stuff is garbage.
May 8, 200916 yr I think what we're looking at is basically the suburbs gone urban. Not exactly the real deal, but a whole lot better than this stuff being built all willy nilly across the country side with acres of parking in between. I'm ambivalent towards it.
May 8, 200916 yr I actually love the new construction trends like these, but I like it when there is also some classic looking infill as well. I think they went a little overboard with the modern. Don't get me wrong, if cities want to use this type of architecture to replace older structures, then more power to them. But let's not forget about the more classic styles of quality infill that we have all seen. It's that perfect mix of old and new that makes this style of architecture look good though. It just should be used in moderation. It's a good idea for a mall though. I looked at this area on Google maps. The images were taken in 2007 so they were working on it and the clash between what has been built, and what's remaining is so great. It's a 1000 times better than what was there before.
May 12, 200916 yr I've been here several times, a lot of siding, and the usual "plastic, hollow" feel that proliferates Denver metro. For comparative purposes, Crocker Park, Legacy Village, and Easton (Columbus) all blow this place away.
May 12, 200916 yr I've been here several times, a lot of siding, and the usual "plastic, hollow" feel that proliferates Denver metro. For comparative purposes, Crocker Park, Legacy Village, and Easton (Columbus) all blow this place away. Well that's saying a lot. EEK! I was there for the DNC, I was not impressed, but in general I'm not impressed with "new" cities.
May 12, 200916 yr what do we call this? urbburban? hmm, maybe some developers could do this with the continent in columbus? redo-over the o.g. of these style of developments? might be easier to do there than an old mall.
May 12, 200916 yr what do we call this? urbburban? hmm, maybe some developers could do this with the continent in columbus? redo-over the o.g. of these style of developments? might be easier to do there than an old mall. I think we should ship everyone in Denver to Moldavia...then see who returns the following season. LOL
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