Consumerism. This can be a super-charged dirty word, particularly during the ‘season of giving.’ Let’s face it, Americans love to shop, or as CNBC’s Jim Cramer would say, “Buy, Buy, Buy!” Well, last year we must have been in a bull market because the 2024 holiday shopping season shaped up to be record setting.
In fact, it is estimated that Black Friday shoppers spent a record $10.8 billion online in 2024. Further, shoppers continued their splurge and contributed to a record $13.3 billion in Cyber Monday sales in 2024. Consumer categories including electronics, children’s toys, travel, fashion and beauty, and gift cards all increased in 2024, as did gaming, personal care, household and office supplies, and health care and fitness products. Truth be told, I may have bought a holiday gift (or two) in a few of those categories.
In contrast, and to offset, or at least feel a bit better about the buying binge, U.S. based donors gave an estimated $3.6 billion on Giving Tuesday in 2024 to nonprofit and mission-based organizations. Well, that certainly makes me feel a bit better. From an economic standpoint however, consumer holiday spending has been remaining steady or increasing over the past few years, even during the inflationary period.
A Quick Drive Down Memory Lane
Recently I was having a ‘regular old’ day filled with work, some good old home chores like laundry, dishes, food prep – you know the drill; and some previously scheduled dad duties including picking up my boys from school. At 4p I picked my older son up from school. He stayed after to go to the gym for a workout, something that he has self-discovered as a high school junior. On the car ride home, I asked how his day had had gone. He said, “it went well.” He then asked, “hey dad, do you remember when we lived in Rochester, and we used to go to that mall, Eastview?” I said, “of course I remember, what’s on your mind?” He replied, oh I was just thinking about that place. Maybe we can go back shopping there sometime over the holidays.” I replied, “sure, lets make a plan to do so.”
My son’s innocent question conjured up a lot of memories. My wife and I lived in Rochester, NY for nearly ten years of our lives. We bought our first home in Fairport, NY, a suburb of Rochester. Our two sons were born in Rochester. And, like many young parents, we explored the richness and splendor of the Rochester region and all that it had to offer including pristine parks and trails, great food, fun culture and festivals, and entertainment and shopping. Anchoring all of those external elements are great people, characterized by a community culture of caring, inventiveness, and innovation. In 2012 we chose to move closer to family and our hometown, leaving some great friends, careers, community, and memories of Rochester behind.
Anyone who lives in Upstate, NY, say between Buffalo to Albany, understands that we really have six months of winter, two of summer, and four of something else, but typically unpredictable (i.e., it’s either too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry). New York winters are long. Although snow may not blanket the region continuously, the November to April time frame can certainly feel dark and dreary. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or “winter depression,” is certainly a real phenomenon in Upstate, NY. When our boys were young, we escaped the doldrums of winter by going to places like the local mall. Malls are a place to shop, but they also are a great place to find some entertainment and get some walking steps in while you break up the monotony of changing diapers, regular feedings, and picking up toys scattered about the house.
You Gotta Actively Fight Back on SAD
Rochester has no shortage of places to fight back SAD and break up the monotony of winter. Due to its proximity to our home at the time, we frequently visited Eastview Mall located in Victor, a small town just outside of Rochester. Known as a ‘super-regional shopping center’ and destination, Eastview Mall’s location is flanked by other notable big box and brand name retail stores, shopping plazas, as well as private retail businesses.
Eastview Mall and surrounding establishments offer many options for dining and entertainment as well. Eastview Mall’s location off the New York State Thruway makes it a convenient destination to get to. Its highly accessible location also provides a heavy throughput of people – from regional residents and traveling tourists, to hardcore shoppers, and those curious and wandering souls who simply want a place to escape the realities of daily life.
My family and I have visited Eastview many times, for all those reasons. We’ve sought out entertainment, we’ve shopped til’ we dropped, and we’ve meandered our way through the hallowed halls of consumerism in search of a temporary reprieve from the ‘SADness’ of winter and even those occasional stressors of just being human. Malls serve many purposes, perhaps more than their owners and managers realize.
Discovering the Church of Eastview
In the fall of 2012, right around the time we were moving from Rochester, my wife and I noticed and remarked to each other on how much busier the region was from when we first moved there about nine years earlier. Although our pending move was only an hour east of Rochester, it would bring about an entirely different type of existence for our family. During one of our escapes to the mall, we coined the phrase, “Church of Eastview.”
Half joking and half serious, we had come to see the mall as a place of mass communal gathering, where people chose their spiritual reprieve in the practice of consumerism. Harsh, and generalized? Perhaps. But also grounded in reality? Definitely. We were living testament that many people relinquished ‘Sunday service’ for ‘sweet deals’ on a weekly basis. The cars, the people, and the sales numbers do not lie.
A couple of quick commentary points.
First, this is not a bash or slight on shopping centers or consumerism. Our consumer-based society is evolving. Unfettered and unsustainable consumption of natural resources is arguably the single greatest contributor to global pollution, unhealthy lifestyles leading to obesity, disease, and premature death; and the severe decline of natural ecosystems diminishing the life-enabling and critical services such as clean air, potable water, nutrient rich energy (foods) that they provide to all species, including humans.
Our consumer culture is changing. I’m personally optimistic that the generations alive today will crack the code on ‘sustainable consumption,’ that is, a means to close the loop, minimize our negative impact, create greater resource equity, while we also extinguish and eradicate social challenges including poverty, disease, and hunger. Our generation currently possesses all the necessary wisdom, know-how, tools, technology, and human capital to catalyze greater prosperity, today. The question is whether we have the courage, character, and leadership to make it so. I believe we do. The process is internal and external – but ultimately begins and ends with each of our own core beliefs, daily behaviors, and goals.
Secondly, this is not an attempt to oversimplify what I would call the spiritual transition that has been occurring for thousands of years. Most spiritual and religious people I know would concur that the ritualized practice of religion does not warrant or guarantee one’s spiritual consciousness or connectedness. Although ritualized practices provide discipline to extend the foundation of one’s spiritual beliefs, such behaviors, like attending Sunday service, are more symbolic.
How one embodies, envelops, and lives their beliefs, day-in and out [not only as a participant on Sunday], is a more accurate representation of spiritual centeredness. This is not to say that attending ‘Sunday service’ or performing rituals is not important or a part of the journey. I’m just making the distinction that we should not pass judgement on those that may choose to walk the halls of the mall on Sunday opposed to walking through the doors of a spiritual house. Human behavior is riddled with contrasts and contradictions. Not everyone at the mall is there to shop, shop, shop – just as not everyone who attends Sunday service lives their life according to God.
The arc of one’s life is larger and more meaningful than the social constructs, like consumerism, which occupy our time. However, one must be mindful throughout one’s life journey not to succumb to the singular allure of such constructs. Social constructs are made to be deconstructed, re-envisioned, redefined, and refined to better serve our needs. Therein is the definition between our occupation as consumers versus our true vocation as proactive citizens and “prosperity” change agents.
The connotation behind the “Church of Eastview” is the idea that people seek out identity, belonging, influence, and self-preservation in many places and through many things. My wife and I began to realize that although we sought refuge from the gloom of winter by walking at the mall, so did many other souls. Some, like us, were young parents. Others were elderly people, meeting up with friends and staying active. Yet others were true to form consumers, there for the hit of dopamine resulting from the sheer pleasure of buying something new to feel fresh and fashionably relevant. The metaphorical “Church of Eastview” is where many people go to escape as well as to be seen, to forget about the world as well as to feel momentarily relevant, to live as well as to feel alive.
Are Shopping Centers More than Places of Consumer Worship?
The roads leading up to the Church of Eastview are often jammed with traffic, particularly on weekends or during seasonal holidays. During these times shopping centers can feel overwhelming and disorienting. The mass traffic, people, and expenditure of money on frivolous goods, as well as that additional unnecessary cup of sugar-and-caffeine laden coffee can all together leave one feeling buzzed, befuddled, empty, and alone.
Years ago, when we lived near Eastview, I recall being stuck in traffic circling the mall one holiday season. The snow was falling, I was low on fuel (for the car and my body), and the minutes began slipping by as daylight turned to nightfall, sitting uncomfortably behind the wheel of my car, inching around the temple of consumerism. The parking lots were at capacity and all that I could see was endless headlights in all directions. Traffic was at a standstill. A car horn could be heard. Then another, and another, until a full-on uproar of cars was honking and beeping in outrage and protest. The moment was insane.
As I inched slowly around the mall, I noticed that an exit was clear. Apparently the entire region was descending upon the mall simultaneously, and nobody that had already arrived was leaving. My original purpose waned, and I made a move for the exit. Other people had begun to do the same. I thought, this is the epitome of unsustainable consumption.
The wasted time, energy, money, and resources were on full display, further illuminated by the impatience and rising tempers of frustrated parishioners. I made my way home and vowed to never put myself in that type of position again. It is during moments like these that the form and function of consumerism looks ridiculous; and it can also feel outright vile. Who wants to be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, wait in long lines, or feel rushed to pick out a gift for a loved one?
Anyone who has been through that experience knows that it can be outright miserable. That said, attending the “Church of Eastview” is a mindset. Although the journey can leave some feeling distraught, it remains curious that people continue their pilgrimage during peak holiday periods, especially considering the convenience of Online alternatives.
On a recent family excursion to Rochester, we drove by Eastview Mall, but did not stop that day. “Looks like the Church of Eastview is as popular as ever,” I remarked to my wife. “It certainly does,” she replied with a smile. Underneath our brief exchange was the unspoken understanding that many years ago we had attended and discovered momentary reprieve within the Church of Eastview. Yet we also acknowledged that for some, it can also represent a place of excess and compulsive behavior. Living around and within a 24-7 consumer-based economy has its benefits such as convenience, but also its share of challenges including irrational exuberance.
Life is a journey. Identity and belonging – faith and purpose – influence and impact – all of this and more can be found all around us, if we choose to see it. My wife and I look back fondly on our “Rochester years.” The broader community, even that which was found at times within a place as seemingly artificial as a mall, was always warm, welcoming, and supportive. We have since evolved and found our grounding and purpose with family and community in other meaningful ways. But we will always remember those two tired parents strolling their two young boys, with coffees in hand, through the Church of Eastview with a sense of quiet and relaxation.
Reimagining the Future of Community and Consumerism: Done Well, Placemaking Connects the Human Condition Across Time and Space
The human experience represents much more than sitting idly frustrated in cars or going to malls to buy more stuff only left to feel empty inside. Our past impressions of capitalism and consumerism are evolving and changing for the better. But as we lean into the speed and convenience of a digital society, we must also assess the impact on our emotional and physical well-being.
Progressive and smart city and regional planners, commercial real-estate developers, Universities, small businesses, and other interested economic developers have embraced digital-physical placemaking to leverage technology with place-based assets to create intentional and immersive environments that better serve the needs of the people. Imagine a world where you no longer must compromise the sanctity of your values against a culture of unconscious consumerism? What if the places we built served us at a utilitarian level as well as connected digitally, physically, and even spiritually?
Check out these examples of intelligent placemaking that are occurring at different scales around the world, working to redefine our pursuit of shared prosperity.
Green Infrastructure [Site and Project-Level Scale] – The U.S. EPA’s “City Green: Innovative Green Infrastructure Solutions for Downtowns and Infill Locations” provides a detailed summary of bespoke green infrastructure projects and their associated best practices. The EPA report includes twelve case studies highlighting projects from cities including Waltham, Massachusetts, Denver, Colorado, Seattle Washington, Queens, NY, St. Paul, Minnesota and other notable locations. The case studies highlight how these city projects have creatively leveraged public and private funding to incentivize the clean-up of formerly contaminated properties and/or uplift economically blighted properties while adopting green infrastructure and technology. Project benefits have yielded economic development while also providing cost-effective environmental services (i.e., stormwater, wastewater, water quality) to local jurisdictions.
Syracuse Surge [Community and City Level Scale] – Launched in 2019, Syracuse Surge is a “people first” inclusive growth initiative focused on creating economic growth, shared prosperity, and neighborhood transformation throughout the City of Syracuse, NY. Partners including government, business, and the non-profit sector are collaborating on innovative workforce programs; expanding broadband access; and introduced the state’s first regional science technology engineering arts and math high school. As a “Flagship Smart City” the City of Syracuse and partners are making investments I digital infrastructure, 5G, broadband, and other technologies that will foster greater creativity, connection, and collaboration yielding place-based innovation and greater prosperity.
NEOM [Regional Level and Nation-State Scale] – Both controversial and visionary, NEOM stands to redefine the future economy and prosperity for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The megaproject includes a planned area of 26,500 km2 (10,200 sq mi) covering multiple regions including a floating industrial complex, global trade hub, tourist resorts, and a linear city powered by renewable energy sources. Saudi Arabia claimed that NEOM would create around 460,000 jobs and add an estimated $48 billion to the country's GDP. Estimated project costs for NEOM exceed $1.5 trillion. “The Line,” one of NEOM’s planned regions, is a conceptual linear smart city. Based upon original plans[i], The Line would span 170 kilometres (110 mi) at a height of 500 m (1,600 ft) and a width of 200 metres (660 ft) sized to accommodate a population of 9 million (25% of Saudi Arabia's 2022 population of 35.5 million). According to plans, The Line[ii] will have no cars, streets or carbon emissions, and all basic services will exist within a five-minute walking distance. Further, and interestingly, The Line is planned to have an entirely glass mirror exterior.
These are a few select examples of humanity working to clean up the past, protect our future, and create intentional, inclusive, and sustainable places for us to enjoy today. These projects span a diversity of needs, locations, and scale and show us that the art, science, engineering, and economic significance of digital-physical placemaking is well underway locally and around the world.
* * *
References:
[i] Source: Wikipedia. “Neom.” Accessed January 3, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neom
[ii] Source: YouTube: “NEOM: What is THE LINE?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kz5vEqdaSc
Comentários