San Rafael plans to overhaul Northgate mall praised - Housing advocates, bicycle proponents and enthusiastic mall supporters turned out for a city hearing Tuesday to cheer on plans to reinvent the Mall at Northgate in [Marin News from the Marin IJ]

I guess it's about time, since Northgate really is kind of a dump. I really just hate going there anymore. As a Marin Old Timer®, I can remember the original outdoor Northgate, although I was really little at the time and don't remember much, other than the fountains and the Bumbleberry pie place, oh, and the Emporium, back before it morphed into Macy's. Sounds as if this new plan is going to be indoor/outdoor, which is sensible, since the weather here isn't foul enough to justify having an indoor mall, anyhow. Isn't it much more pleasant to shop at the Town Center or the Village? (The Village of course suffers from the opposite problem of being a little too upscale).

I do wonder about the affordable housing aspect being looked into. Do people really want to live near the shopping mall? Not my first choice. I think these projects are great, in theory, but in practice result in neighborhoods where nobody really would want to live by choice. Not totally awful, but far from really pleasant.