Do an internet search for “Town Center,” “Towne Center”, “Towne Centre”, or any other spelling of this phrase that you can think of. Click a few of the links that come up– and they will come up, from all corners of the country.
See what patterns emerge as you browse the Towne Centre sites.
Do you get the sense that Towne Centres really aren’t?
We have one here, called the Webster Towne Center–marketed on its web site as a “unique combination brought together in a warm village atmosphere, reminiscent of small-town America.” This “unique, village-like atmosphere ” is actually 800,000 square feet of big box chain stores, replete with a massive expanse of parking in the middle. Ironic and exasperating is the fact that these fake Towne Centers have laid successful siege to the real centers of our communities. The same company that developed the Towne Center at Webster erected another in my hometown of Erwin, New York, and several others in no- or negative-growth regions around Upstate New York (Batavia, Watertown, etc.).
The beginning of the solution to this irony is to ensure that a critical mass of people recognize the irony– that the fake Town Centers are destroying the real ones.
And what about those e’s on the end of Towne, anyway? How do these e’s make you feel?
While you’re here, check out some of the latest in Towne Centers, Town Centers, Towne Centres, Town Centres…
Towne Centre, Kenwood OH and another inspiring Kenwood shot