Check out the Target in Watertown, MA. It's been a few years since I've been there, but it's another teeny mall anchored by Target and Best Buy. It's essentially a regular suburban strip mall, except all of the smaller tenants are indoors and the big boxes have both indoor and exterior entrances.
The largest indoor tenant (at least when I was there) was the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Across the street was a typical enclosed mall that was partially demolished for a "lifestyle center."
"There’s something localist in a good way, something civic, about caring about and documenting these things, I think. Even if it’s just a little story of a little place." -- Yes, indeed, and thank you. Speaking selfishly, I especially appreciate posts on Northern Virginia architecture and planning since I lived there for almost all of my adult life. Now in Tennessee for at least a year, I experience them as letters from home.
Love that! You're not the first person to say that - apparently lots of people grew up here and somehow found my newsletter. (In fact there's a fellow who now runs a small business in *my* hometown who grew up very close to this shopping center). Small world.
Ah, come on, Addison. You didn't highlight the best feature of the "mall": the comic book shop Tosche Station! The store has an incredible array of comics, action figures, retro toys, trading cards, and free playable arcade games. When my family lived in West Springfield, I used to go there with my oldest kid to buy her superhero Golden Books and let her rummage around in plastic bins with random, cheap action figures. We've since moved and visited last spring for the first time in a few years, and they've noticeably reduced their number of kid things for sale, but it's still a great store with knowledgeable staff.
"I wasn’t able to find the property on the official Fairfax County property lookup database"
Here you go. I noticed the same thing when I searched by address (maybe because the default sort is "map #" rather than property address?), but using a map search and clicking on the parcel worked.
The record has the structure's build date as 1989, which is consistent with the article you linked.
Check out the Target in Watertown, MA. It's been a few years since I've been there, but it's another teeny mall anchored by Target and Best Buy. It's essentially a regular suburban strip mall, except all of the smaller tenants are indoors and the big boxes have both indoor and exterior entrances.
The largest indoor tenant (at least when I was there) was the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Across the street was a typical enclosed mall that was partially demolished for a "lifestyle center."
Neat! Any idea as to why they built it that way?
None at all :)
"There’s something localist in a good way, something civic, about caring about and documenting these things, I think. Even if it’s just a little story of a little place." -- Yes, indeed, and thank you. Speaking selfishly, I especially appreciate posts on Northern Virginia architecture and planning since I lived there for almost all of my adult life. Now in Tennessee for at least a year, I experience them as letters from home.
Love that! You're not the first person to say that - apparently lots of people grew up here and somehow found my newsletter. (In fact there's a fellow who now runs a small business in *my* hometown who grew up very close to this shopping center). Small world.
Ah, come on, Addison. You didn't highlight the best feature of the "mall": the comic book shop Tosche Station! The store has an incredible array of comics, action figures, retro toys, trading cards, and free playable arcade games. When my family lived in West Springfield, I used to go there with my oldest kid to buy her superhero Golden Books and let her rummage around in plastic bins with random, cheap action figures. We've since moved and visited last spring for the first time in a few years, and they've noticeably reduced their number of kid things for sale, but it's still a great store with knowledgeable staff.
"I wasn’t able to find the property on the official Fairfax County property lookup database"
Here you go. I noticed the same thing when I searched by address (maybe because the default sort is "map #" rather than property address?), but using a map search and clicking on the parcel worked.
The record has the structure's build date as 1989, which is consistent with the article you linked.
https://icare.fairfaxcounty.gov/ffxcare/Datalets/Datalet.aspx?mode=&UseSearch=no&pin=0884%2001%20%200008&jur=129&taxyr=2025
I was going to ask if you picked up some power converters