“One of Kansas City’s most identifiable locations” is now up for sale for just under $10 million. I am no realtor, but if I were, I’d agree with Block & Company Inc. The Landing Mall is an “excellent Midtown Center with easy access.” According to Emily Talen, a professor at the School of Geographical Sciences and School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, accessibility is 1 of the 5 key factors to having sustainable urban form. Located near the core of Kansas City, Missouri, is the Landing Mall. The Landing Mall has 8 entrances that are designated for consumer automobile interaction. (See figure 1.) I personally feel 8 curb cuts seem excessive for this area now, but in previous days, it may have been necessary.
Figure 2. shows accessibility to an ADA ramp which leads to the lower level of the Landing Mall. Standing at the top of this ramp is a great view down on the Landing Mall. Currently this is a massive parking lot, with unattended potholes and little marking to direct traffic, but I envision looking down on functioning rooftops with green space and as little black asphalt as possible. Figure 2. also displays dead vines weaving through the fence. These dead vines replicate what the Landing Mall now, dead. Even though the Landing Mall is located at such as assessible and active location, on the corner of 63rd Street and Troost Avenue, there were few people using the space for its purpose, retail therapy.
Known for its Noah’s Ark theme, the Landing Mall maintains features that allow one to reminisce on the past. Upon entering the Landing Mall consumers are greeting with a farm-like sent and painted cows sculptures reside in the lower level commons area. I was caught off guard by the foul scent once entering the mall and the sculptures of cows added to mismatch interior design features of the mall. Figure 3. the storefronts of some active businesses in the Landing Mall. From looking at previous historically photos, it is evident the Landing Mall was once a strip mall with an open space in the center. These service doors, seen in figure 3., still remain and added to my confusion of where the mall’s primary entrance was located. This figure likewise shows remnants of flourishing landscape, but it can be viewed as a positive to still see the straight line of trees lining the south side of the mall.
With time, and change of seasons, the vines on the fence and the trees lining the storefronts will continue to grow. They will bloom and thrive, as can the Landing Mall.