Close Malls 1x a Week to alleviate traffic?

[dr. d]

in other countries, city planners have determined that large malls, de facto mini-cities, be located outside the city.. that way, the traffic it will generate will not inconvenience the general public.. it will also level off the real estate prices.. it will also decongest their cities. it will also, in all probability, diminish the malls' money-earning ability.. but hey! that's not city hall's problem in the long run.
good advice to our planners..

[niky]

There are already schools and malls going up outside the city, absorbing some of the crush. South people don't need to go much further than Alabang, where you have Festival Mall and ATC. Traffic here doesn't contribute to the crush up at EDSA.

Problem is, even though these places are still technically inside Metro Manila, there are so many things you can't get here. For many purchases, it's still better to go to the malls and stores inside the greater metro area. Not enough customers in the south to justify malls carrying items.

It's a chicken or egg thing... as long as transport (for both goods and workers) is very expensive, then businesses can't move outside the metro... or they'll lose money. But if you force everything outside the metro, eventually, people will want to move to the places you sent them, creating new population centers and congestion...

If we could only lower the cost of transport with better rail and bus rapid transport, then maybe decentralization will work.

ganun ba :D:D
how about batangas and farther side of bulacan. para uaap and ncaa games lang cause ng traffice

Bring it.

Actually, the big boys are opening up all around us here in the South. Testing waters palang... smaller operations... but as the population grows, so do the number of schools.

[bloowolf]

I really don't mind you guys having your basketball games in your side of town. The traffic & chaos I read about makes me glad I moved here 10 years ago. I prefer my peace here in the south.

[ninjababez]

parang mas ok talaga kung maglayo ang major universities.
better yet gayahin ala west side ng us, less skyscrapers and a lot of smaller buildings, tapos magkakalayo ng kaunti.
dito kasi makati, ortigas, eastwood and soon cubao area, parang siniksik na mga buildings kaya dami bottleneck.

[jut703]

The west side has a lot of small buildings because their metropolises are huge.

We are moving closer to HK and SG where the central business districts are small and thus the tendency is for buildings to go upward.

Westgate has been around for over a decade now yet hasn't been fully utilized. Businesses prefer to stay in Makati/BGC/Ortigas because of the proximity to other businesses. There has to be a good incentive for them to move south.


Posted via Tsikot Mobile App

[BratPAQ]

Having technoparks like Laguna technopark or Ayala land technohub, further down south or way up north could help. Expanding to cavite and Laguna isn't enough as the traffic on these places are like Metro Manila.

Posted via Tsikot Mobile App

[niky]

Westgate... I tend to think it's a developer issue. The Madrigal center went up much later, yet has higher percentage occupancy.

But getting people to move south is, indeed, a huge challenge. Westgate and the greater Filinvest area are both woefully underdeveloped... though the Northgate project, where Bellevue Hotel and Ford's new corporate HQ is, has good development. I think the Skyway off-ramp really helps.

Laguna Technopark is fifty-fifty... but at least a lot of residential commercial is going up around it. The draconian right-of-way issues with Greenfield, however, is limiting development. If they'd only open it up like Eton at Santa Rosa, the whole area could boom.

-

But as BratPaq says... you have to go even further south and north. Laguna and Cavite are already like sub-borroughs of the greater Metro Manila area... we need to push even further out if we are to lower traffic density.

-

In the end, it might be that the one true solution is to go to a Singapore model, where you need to pay big time for the opportunity to own and use a car within the city.

But that can only happen if public transport, pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure allow for more people to commute.

I've been commuting in the Philippines for over thirty years (I first went to Baguio on a non-aircon bus when I was eight or so... chaperoned only by a student)... and while it used to be fun, nowadays it sometimes feels like taking your life into your hands.

[cast_no_shadow]

Im here today at BSA Twin Tower sa likod ng megamall. As early as 1:00pm now traffic is standstill.

Iba effect sa traffic pag sale ang mall. I believe robinson galleria sale din.

Punyets! Palabas pa lang ng parking ng BSA haba na ng pila. Hanggang mamaya pa itong activity na pinuntahan ko.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnM]

^^Megamall 3-day sale + H&M opening day. This Friday will be fun.

I'm lucky my daily commute is against the grind. EDSA NB is clear on most parts on weekday mornings. C5 SB naman is relatively clear when I go home at night.

Wish ko lang that the condos or housing projects they create around the CBDs are affordable to most of the people working there. Imagine if the common BGC office worker can afford a unit in the Serendra area. No need to bring cars diba? With the current prices kasi it still makes more financial sense to waste at least 4 hours a day burning dinos.

Edit: kinda OT pala post ko dahil di mentioned ang malls I agree that it's a chicken and egg thing. Malls set up shop where there are lots of foot traffic. Most of the mall-goers are not there to shop. Karamihan namamasyal lang since may aircon, pagkain at kasama na rin sightseeing. There are smaller versions of these huge malls everywhere. Problema lang kasi is that the big ones become a destination in themselves. Ilang beses na rin akong nakakita ng mga field trip buses parked in these malls.

Closing these monstrosities once a week will only inconvenience the shop owners who have to sell a lot per day just to break even. A safe and convenient mass transit system is still a better solution IMO. I won't mind letting others do the driving for me as long as I know that I'll get to my destination in one piece.

[dr. d]

paint people and color code them! bawal lumabas nang bahay, one day a week. (already said)

phase out 65-and-abovers.. mabuhay ang soylent green!!!

but seriously, our planners should "inspire" industry to move out of the crowded city and into new developments outside.. make it expensive for them to set up shop in the city.. larger taxes, more stringent requirements, high "breakdown fines" for stalled motor vehicles that are obstructing traffic.. yeah.. make it very expensive for operators who do not maintain well their vehicles..
nawalan ng brakes daw... 50K fine!

punish jaywalkers! one day imprisonment or one day "public service" (street sweeper, sidewalk painter, etc..)

but to close malls once a week? e, 'di sa kabilang mall lang pupunta ang tayong mga langgam..