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| - What strikes me about Tempe Marketplace isn't necessarily the actual retail center but that it's always busy, it actually seems alive... even during the depths of the recession - bustling. And then, in contrast, I visit Mesa Riverview that emanates an erie vagrant vibe about it - even inside Bass Pro, it's like an empty nervousness - I don't know if it's location or design but Tempe did something right that Mesa did not...
Surprisingly, I never go to Tempe Marketplace for a deep experience; I go to get something and launch - I have no problem sneaking in and out one of the big boxes or little boxes. The only time I really experience the place is burning time before a movie, walking up and down the main drag along the little boxes - nothing too interesting to see but, of course, it's just a mall... people always seem to be strolling around, visiting the shops.
Have to say though, that I do get a kick out of the signs projecting the 'progressive community group imagery' that includes that spacey guy playing the bongos - really? really?
As far as corporate retail power centers go, it appears for now, Tempe Marketplace works...
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