Gem Boutique, a jewelry store that opened at the old mall in 1992, is the only shop that survived the transition. The owners, Mimi Arbabi and Hoss Mafi, still talk about the way things used to be.
"Everyone was so sad when they tore it down. Even until this day, people come in and reminisce," Arbabi said. "A lot of people grew up in that mall. ... It was like a gathering place, really."
The plaza functions perfectly well, she said, but the sociability she used to relish is long gone. "Most days I don't hope to see anybody familiar," she said. "When I see a friendly face, I get so excited."
It is ironic that Rouse's project ended up as a strip mall, said Joshua Olsen, who wrote a biography of the developer, because he had envisioned Harundale Mall as an antidote to the aesthetically and socially impoverished strip shopping center.
"It's strange to talk about the community and malls, but that's very much what he wanted to do is create a place where people could gather and at least rub elbows," Olsen said.
Few think he would be happy about what happened to his Harundale Mall.
"I don't think he would like it at all. ... Not a bit," Arbabi said. "That was his baby."
But on a recent, quiet morning, few visitors seemed troubled by the fate of Rouse's pet project. Some allowed that they missed the old mall, but strip centers are convenient, they said as they swung by for their mail, stopped for pizza or picked up groceries.
That acceptance might be misleading - on Harundale Mall's 100th birthday, if anyone remembers it, the plaza may have a wholly different form, according to McMahon.
"In my judgment, strip retail is retail without a future, especially in a carbon-constrained world," he said. "What are defining features of the suburban strip? First of all, they are ugly. And second of all, they are congested. ... Try that as a shopping slogan."
People may say they like it, but such boosters may be unaware of the alternatives, he said. He imagines that many strip malls will go through transformations to become friendlier to residents, transit and pedestrians.
Michael Beyard, also a fellow at the Urban Land Institute, agreed. "We think that, slowly, communities will recognize that these older strips have outlived their usefulness," he said. "There could be opportunity there."
