Planetizen quotes Shopping Centers Today:
“For their part, big-box retailers are just as eager to find new customers, even if that means letting go of their attachment to suburban development models, McMahon says. Indeed, the stalled housing market and the oversupply of retail in the suburbs and exurbs has made cities all the more attractive to big-box stores, he says. “We now have 1.1 billion acres of vacant retail, mostly in big-box stores out on the strip, and some people believe that up to 300 million square feet of that will have to be demolished or repurposed,” McMahon said. “Retailers are figuring out that inner cities are the one place in America with more spending power than stores. For the big-box industry, our downtowns are the last frontier.”
1.1 billion acres!
Or 1.7 million square miles (4.4 million sq km). The area of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The area of South Asia. The area of Arctic sea ice (shrinking)
Can that possibly be right? And if so, what can possibly be done with all that waste?
UPDATE: As rico says, probably a billion square feet, not acres. But still … a staggering waste of resources by any measure.
I suspect from the context of the quote it is supposed to be square feet.
What can be done? From Planetizen again (via DPZ) some ideas and pretty pictures http://www.planetizen.com/node/46481
if you include all the parking lots it could be acres!