The New Springfield Mall--er, Town Center

Wednesday evening, Mary and I had our first chance to explore the newly reopened Springfield Town Center (don't call it a mall!), nearly a month after its grand reopening festivities (no one ever accused us of being early adopters). Here's some of our takeaways after strolling through most of it:

Hits

• The grand entrance on the Loisdale side is really pretty sharp. The broad staircase and chandelier made me think of a Vegas casino entrance. Well done.
• We both think they widened the hallways, and I think in some cases, pushed them closer to the outside of the structure--making what was a l-o-n-g walk to Macy's much more appealing. And the tile floors are much nicer than the terra-cotta tiles that were there before.
• They created a "neighborhood" on the lower level near Macy's that's a dream world for the 4-6-year-old set. Clothing and toy stores for that age group are all colocated. Nicely done.
• Similarly, the H&M is right across the hall from the Forever 21 and right next to the shoe stores, meaning I can just park in a chair in the middle and watch Sarah run to all three.
• The lighting is so much nicer inside now. Hallways and foyers are brightly lit and much more inviting.
• They definitely went for more upscale eating choices.
• More than one elevator! Yay!
• $4 valet parking? If it stays like that through the holidays, that could be well worth it.

Misses

• I'm a little disappointed they opened with so many unfilled storefronts. They have several on-the-come, which look to be opening within a few weeks or couple of months. But there are long stretches of hallway still in their generic "Springfield Town Center" wrapping, no indication at all that they'll ever be filled. It will be tough to bring me back to a half-empty mall--er, town center--which was the problem before the previous Springfield Mall closed to begin with.
• There's nothing really there for me, or David, in terms of clothes. No A&F, no JCrew, nothing for the teen boy--and nothing I'd shop at either. Mary reminds me the Nordstrom Rack will probably be good for me, but that won't open for quite awhile yet.
• The food court. Not only are there only two things open right now, but of the six announced offerings, four are some form of Asian cuisine (Thai, Viet, Chinese, Japanese), with a Chipotle and a fast-food Italian offering. That's it. Can't get a burger (Zinburger will be outside, and isn't open yet). Can't get any chicken fingers for the kiddies. And, as Mary pointed out, there's no place to get a decent salad.

Jury's Out

• Biggest question mark is around the sit-down restaurants. They're all on "the plaza," which is what they're calling the Loisdale Road side, with only one that I know of (Maggiano's) having an entrance to the inside of the mall--er, town center. So when I'm inside shopping but it's pouring and I want to get to Chuy's, or Zinburger, or any of the others, I have to dash outside to get to it?
• Not sure how I like having the Regal Cinema tucked away like it is. It's a little bit of effort to get to it from within the mall--er, town center--itself, but it's got its own entrance/exit to the parking garage, so people coming to the movies can make a direct entrance.

What has your experience of the new Springfield Town Center been?

Beginning the College Hunt, Part IV

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new frontrunner in the college sweepstakes.

After touring Arizona State on Monday, David announced that it is now his favorite among the four he's now toured (W&M, U of Arizona, and in distant fourth, Berkeley, round out the list). He likes the feel of the campus and the flexibility with which ASU appears to treat its students: he can build an anthropology degree as a BA or as a BS, and he can focus it towards particular areas (like archaeology), and he can double-major or minor in Native American studies to complement it (or he can minor in Theatre Design and Production). And I think he also likes that ASU's admissions process is noncompetitive (you either meet the thresholds or you don't), and that the freshman dorm for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (read: anthro majors live here) is the brand-newly-remodeled 15-story Manzanita Hall, overlooking the football stadium on one side and campus on the other.

Manzanita Hall (rear) and Palo Verde East dorms

On the ASU bridge, looking back towards dorms and the stadiums.

Palm Walk, the main north-south pathway through campus

He doesn't seem to mind that Tempe and Phoenix are a much busier place; or, that the campus was (or felt to me) a bit crowded--although even at class change, the crowds were very reasonable, despite the size of the school. He also doesn't seem fazed about being one of 9,000+ freshmen--although perhaps that will give others pause.

He does caution, though, that he still wants to see the others on his list--UVA, Radford, and Wake Forest, and last night Texas A&M made a return to the wish list. But if he had to pick right now, my son would want to become a Sun Devil. What will his final pick be? Stay tuned…we've a long way until next fall!

Beginning the College Hunt, Part III

As previously described, David has begun looking for college options he likes, and following on the success of his conversation with a grad student at William and Mary, he had identified both the University of Arizona and Arizona State as two places he wanted to consider. This weekend is the long break between first and second quarters at school, so he and I flew westward on Halloween night.

We toured UA today. The campus reminded me a little of Berkeley, with its gated entrance and Western feel to it. We walked around much of the southern part of campus, including the residence halls, student rec center (wow), student union, and library. Here's some of what we saw:

Main Gate to the University of Arizona

The "Mall" features the single longest strip of grass in Arizona…but also this native display (and one Virginian)

The Mall, looking east

Admin building and part of the student union at left across the Mall

Found his building; lost his sense of exploration somewhere around here though :)

The boy, surveying the campus (and football stadium to the right) from the top of  Likin Hall dorm

David's conclusion: so far this is his favorite out-of-state choice, but he's not yet ready to say which is in the lead, UA or W&M. He liked the atmosphere of the place, feeling more at home than he did at Berkeley, and the people were friendly. I think he also liked that the tour guides were only a couple of years older than him--so he could kinda see himself in their place. He saw three levels of dorm, and says he'd be just as comfortable in the cheaper one (good!). He wishes he had a chance to see more of the archaeology program, but knows we may have more of an opportunity Monday in Tempe.

My takeaways? (1) Campus is d-e-a-d on a Saturday. With 35,000 students in October I had expected to get more of a sense of the atmosphere; we did not count on the fact that only 6,600 of them live on campus, mostly freshmen, who were still sleeping in much of the day. And (2) It didn't feel too large and overwhelming, or too crowded--so, a much different vibe from Berkeley. Closer to a W&M feel, without oak trees and 50 degrees warmer.

ASU, up next on Monday!