Redesigning Shopping Centers in the Delaware Valley: From Greyfields to Community Assets

Redesigning Shopping Centers in the Delaware Valley: From Greyfields to Community Assets

Product No.: 05023
Date Published: 06/2005

View/Download PDF

If you would like to request a printed copy (or copies) of this product, please call DVRPC at 215-592-1800 or email the staff contact listed below. If you would like to request this publication or portion of this publication in another language or format, please fill out a request form.

The Delaware Valley has a plethora of shopping centers, with more being constructed each year. Current development patterns and retail trends are forcing tenants to abandon older shopping centers and relocate to new big-box regional centers and malls in outlying, growing townships. Over time, these older shopping centers have become vacant and present a blighting influence on their surrounding communities. Solutions to encourage revitalization and redesign can be impeded by a lack of knowledge by municipal officials on how to redevelop and renew these sites, working in concert with regional and local land use and transportation policies. This report and inventory identifies shopping centers, otherwise known as greyfields, in the region that are abandoned or which meet a definition of decline; and transportation, land use and zoning, and design recommendations to help communities reinvent these places into vibrant, mixed-use centers.

Geographic Area Covered: Pennsylvania Counties: Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery, Chester & Philadelphia New Jersey Counties: Burlington Camden, Mercer, Gloucester

Key Words: shopping center, greyfields, redevelopment, sprawl, mixed-use, gross leasable area (GLA), de-malling, design, ghostboxes, density, retailing, market power, strip mall, enclosed mall, suburbanization, main streets, lifestyle centers, greenfields and brownfields.

Staff Contact(s)

Translation Request

DVRPC’s publications or portions of publications can be translated in alternative languages and formats if requested. To request translation, please submit the form below. You can also contact DVRPC’s Office of Communications & Engagement at 215-592-1800 or public_affairs@dvrpc.org.

Title VI Statement

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, and related nondiscrimination mandates in all programs and activities. DVRPC's website, www.dvrpc.org, may be translated into multiple languages. Publications and other public documents can usually be made available in alternative languages and formats, if requested. DVRPC’s public meetings are always held in ADA-accessible facilities, and held in transit-accessible locations whenever possible. Translation, interpretation, or other auxiliary services can be provided to individuals who submit a request at least seven days prior to a public meeting. Translation and interpretation services for DVRPC’s projects, products, and planning processes are available, generally free of charge, by calling (215) 592-1800. All requests will be accommodated to the greatest extent possible.

Any person who believes they have been aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory practice by DVRPC under Title VI and/or ADA has a right to file a formal complaint. Any such complaint must be in writing and filed with DVRPC's Title VI Compliance Manager, Alison Hastings, and/or the appropriate state or federal agency within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory occurrence. For more information on DVRPC's Title VI program or to obtain a Title VI Complaint Form, please visit: www.dvrpc.org/GetInvolved/TitleVI, call (215) 592-1800, or email public_affairs@dvrpc.org.

Air Quality Partnership
Annual Report
Connections 2050
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
Economic Development District