America’s Homelessness Crisis: A Retail Revolution?
Homelessness in the US is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, with over 567,000 homeless Americans hanging out on the streets as of 2019, a slight uptick from 552,000 in 2018, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Thanks to 2020’s pandemic, historic unemployment levels have emerged, making it difficult for many to keep their wallets closed—let alone pay rent. While some regions have thrown a rent freeze party, others seem to have missed the invitation, opting instead for cash-burning bonfires.
In a twist worthy of a sitcom, abandoned department stores have started taking on new roles as emergency homeless shelters. For instance, the Landmark Mall in Washington, D.C., bravely transformed a once-bustling Macy’s into a safe haven for those without homes in 2018. Who needs your sneakers and kitchen gadgets when you can have a nice warm bed?
As Washington Post reporter Terrence McCoy puts it, “The idea that spurred this transformation represents a new way of thinking that is bringing together three economic phenomena: the collapse of the brick-and-mortar retail industry, the disappearance of affordable housing in America’s boom towns, and the struggle to reduce homelessness, which remains as intractable as ever.” So, if life gives you lemons, why not make a shelter out of them?
Fast forward to 2020, and some are eagerly jumping on the dying-mall bandwagon. TechCrunch columnist Jon Evans is advocating for the conversion of vacant retail spaces into public housing or shelters, claiming it could be a home run—especially in cities like San Francisco, where rent costs could buy you a house in the middle of nowhere, if you can find one.
Evans cheekily suggests, “If our post-COVID-19 world is one in which demand for office and retail space plummets, which seems likely, let’s take advantage of that space to help deal with the housing crisis plaguing wealthy cities across the globe.” And what better way to use those leaking roofs than as an impromptu rooftop garden for the homeless?
In a world where the American Dream has been deemed archaic—and frankly, a bit too expensive—maybe it’s time to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and start renting out the space they used to occupy. Let’s hope that turning mall stores into shelters becomes the next trend; it’s certainly easier than turning people into consumers.
As we stumble through the ruins of retail and look up at the stars, the homeless might just find themselves camping out amidst the flotsam of consumerism. Who knew that in a nation obsessed with shopping, the salvation for our homeless crisis might come from the very stores that went belly-up? So, here’s to innovative reuse—may our malls become not just shopping centers but, quite literally, life-savers.
