5 thoughts on “Aerial Views of the Economy”

  1. Take a commuter rail train from the North Shore of Boston, and through the station that used to service the GE Riverworks. Dozens of commuters used to get off and alight there, and the parking lots were full. The Riverworks plant was a hive of activity viewed from the passing train windows.

    But now? A ghost town. A few cars in the lots, and the train almost never stops there on a schedule. The great industrial meltdown of New England may have started with the demise of textile and garment production in the ’70’s (my old man’s trade), but it has progressed through the decimation of defense and high-end specialty manufacturing that was a New England hallmark.

  3. I know the retail indicators show that shopping is down, except WalMart is doing pretty good.

    But that mall parking lot isn’t really empty, a quick glance shows about 300 cars. Also, what was the time? (“Date/Time Original 2008:11:08 09:42:34-05:00” – maybe in a different time zone from the mall?)
    Around here, the mall doesn’t open until 10am, while Wal-Mart is either 24hrs or opens 7am.

    PS – for Michigan, that mall would be doing fantastic!

  4. John: I had the camera set to Eastern Time, I believe, so it would have been 11:42 am in El Paso on a Saturday. 300 cars sounds like a lot, but wouldn’t the mall have at least 50 stores? That’s only 6 shoppers per store.

  5. Our local mall is Lakeforest Mall, Gaithersburg, MD. Using Microsoft’s maps.live.com, you can find it by those 4 words. Then choose a bird’s-eye view, or possible the aerial view on the west and northwest parking areas. I know from going there that the cars near the mall are shoppers. The cars clustered near the service road are unsold cars from a new car dealership. In recent months, the unsold cars have become ever more numerous. At least they have gotten smart and put sale prices on the cars to promote a little business.

    There are 4 different orientations for the bird’s eye view, and the pictures are different ages. If you find an old picture showing Hecht’s department store (now Macy’s?), there are no stored cars. Nowadays, the stored cars are more than in any of the photos. As my stocks go down the drain, I won’t be able to visit the mall and eat at Ruby Tuesday’s or anything. For all that, I bet this area is more prosperous than many. The mall must get something for parking the new cars.

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