[nerdjon]

I was just walking through a deadish mall in my city a couple days ago thinking how awesome if they had done that instead of the offices they put on the upper floors.

I know there is a small mall in Providence RI that does this (more like a strip mall if I remember correctly).

I also believe there are condos above one of the malls here in Boston but I am not entirely sure if they have their own entrance or if they have direct access to the mall.

[chipsa]

Might be some zoning restrictions on being able to put residential in. But adding offices is easy, as it's still commercial. Which isn't to say that they couldn't try to get it rezoned, but it's more difficult.

[zbrozek]

Zoning in the United States is out of control in most suburban-and -up places. Too restrictive. It drives a lot of our ills (megacommuting, unaffordable housing, sprawl, etc) and needs to be liberalized. Like sure, I get it, don't put a tire burning yard in the middle of a playground. But surely there's a way to avoid such outcomes without stifling all land use innovation and freedom across the board.

[capitainenemo]

In our town, a local abandoned mall was torn down and renovated into a strip mall situation. As part of the deal negotiated with the city, the parking lot in back was to be used for apartments. Probably to help with revenue and to support the shops. This probably was an exception to zoning. No other apartments exist anywhere near there.

The residents were so upset they initiated a recall of council members and revoked the apartment portion of the deal (after the company had already built the mall).

[evanelias]

> I know there is a small mall in Providence RI that does this

It's not just any small mall -- it's literally the first/oldest indoor shopping mall in the US! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Arcade

Sadly it didn't seem very lively the time I visited last year. Nice architecture and a few cool stores though!