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| - Went twice, one early weekday morning before shops opened, one Sunday early evening. The early morning I visited, grounds-crew were still planting shrubs, the place was deserted save for them and some Macy's employees. I parked in the shade in a lot adjacent to the north end of the shopping area. When I walked down to the south end via the central avenue past the shops, it felt like a small mall with the roof off. When I then walked the same distance along the parking lots it felt like 5Xs the distance simply because there's nothing to see. That's the power of shops at pedestrian level. More cities like Vegas across the U.S. need to get rid of enclosed malls, strip malls and implement pedestrian-focused districts.
I would love to see more independent vendors with small stands, food trucks or stands, musicians, artists and outdoor cafes or somewhere to sit and people-watch. That's something I see at the UNLV campus but let's face it, college students don't have the same buying power that Downtown Summerlin patrons have.
As much as I like that for once I can drop off the car and enjoy the fresh air and go shopping without crossing giant parking lots, the above items are really lacking from this mall and it's what drives hordes of people to downtown Fremont street, Santa Monica, the grove, Time Square, etc.
The shops themselves are a great hodge-podge of high-ish end to low-end with typical indoor mall giant dept store anchors at one end. At least there is a smaller 5 screen Regal cinema nearby. Add independently owned coffee shops (think Angelika Cinema in Soho, NYC) nearby and I think this is what Summerlin locals really want from the site.
Be warned if you saw Trader Joes advertising lately that they are not located nearby the Downtown Summerlin shops, it is located on the extreme south end of the parking lot, about .5-1 mile away. So I'd call in the area but not in Downtown at all.
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