515 Crew

Man, that place is a fucking ghost town. I went there today and last night to look at a dog at the ARL and I noticed Shoe Carnival is closing, Waldenbooks is closing and Steve & Barry's went bankrupt and closed. Steve and Barry's was supposed to be the savior of that mall. I didn't care for the place much, but a lot of people did.

If anyone needs books, I'd suggest making a trip to the Southridge Waldenbooks. I bought a ton of books for $50 last night. Everything is either 40% or 75% off. Bought lots of cook books, art coffee table books and a few novels. I might go back a few days before they close and see if they slash the prices down even lower.

I wonder what the next couple of years have in store for Southridge? It's not looking good, that place has been going downhill for years and now it really seems like it's on it's last leg. The only places there I would be interested now in is Target, GNC and maybe Maid-Rite. I guess the ARL too.

As a kid Southridge was a cool place where you could easily spend a few hours. They had a wider variety of options in the food court, some even independently ran (Corn Dog Factory owned). Two toy stores, a pet store, a couple book stores, a comic book/baseball card store, a good arcade, many clothing stores, video game stores, Radio Shack was fun to fuck around in and all sorts of shit. The mall was usually full of people and was a lot more vibrant than now.

Anyways, I wonder what they could do or will do to revitalize it, if anything? I'd hate to see it go. While I don't do much shopping at malls, they're nice to have around without having to travel to West Des Moines.

What is the current state of the arcade that is at southridge? Is there even an arcade there anymore? Last time I went (two years ago) it wasn't even owned by Namco anymore, all the machines were old, and they weren't repairing the busted ones.

-Joe.

Yeah they are talking about including it in the new super block with the zoo, water park, winter park and etc...

At this point, the only real draw it has is the theater, target and one of the only two Sears in town. Everything else is gone. The kid and I spent some time there last summer and I have to say it was sad.

What they should do is turn the whole place into an indoor park. Maybe even an amusement park. Maybe an aquarium or something to draw people there. The problem they have is that for most of the population in the Des Moines area it's faster to go to Merrle Hay, Valley West or Jordon Creek then to drive to Southridge. So you have to give them something they won't find elsewhere. If they had an attraction it would draw the people back and draw the stores back.

god, i remember going to southridge and just hanging out..and it wasn't such a shitty place. man, i remember it having THREE freaking cd/record/tape stores, a sweet comic store, and a kickass arcade.

it seems as the population moves west, the older malls are being abandoned. i think it also has to do with people preferring the newer malls. for instance, merle hay is pretty empty most of the time. and i embarrassingly go there more than i'd like.

i haven't been to southridge in at least ten years. i'd like to go there and check it out again before it gets bulldozed, maybe.

I was at Merle Hay Mall a few days ago to pass out fliers to some hot topic kids. There wasn't much going on there, either. I'm sure there were a lot more people there than there are at Southridge, but, yeah, still not that many. If you walk in by the theatre, there's a whole strip of stores that are closed down and boarded over (Software Etc, Waldenbooks, then like 3 more shops down the row past where KB Toys used to be), it's crazy.

-Joe.

there's a cat at the southridge ARL named Norris and she is soooooooooooo cute.



i wish i had one home instead of 3 so i could adopt her. SO CUTE!!

Joe wrote:What is the current state of the arcade that is at southridge? Is there even an arcade there anymore? Last time I went (two years ago) it wasn't even owned by Namco anymore, all the machines were old, and they weren't repairing the busted ones.
-Joe.

Whenever I walk by it I never really see anyone in there, so probably pretty shitty. Aladdin's Castle used to be pretty sweet and before that there was another one by where the current food court is that was really cool. I recall lots of Operation Wolf, Pole Position and Afterburner there.

ilikehorses wrote: it seems as the population moves west, the older malls are being abandoned. i
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Southridge's initial allure was supposed to be that it drew in a lot of people from Southern Iowa. Many people from that area used to make the haul to Des Moines every month or so for groceries, sundries and so on. Now that Southern Iowa has a few Wal-Marts there isn't much of a need to make it up this way. Those that do make the trip think that they might as well take an extra few minutes and go to Jordan Creek or Valley West. Last time I went to Valley West that one looked like it was starting to go downhill.

I think I saw that cat. I went to go check out this dog though: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displa ... d=12734455

She looks very similar to mine (except she has a tail) and would be about the same age. They seemed to get along alright, but she's still a little skittish. They think she was abused/neglected and/or attacked by another dog while she was a stray. If she's still around on Monday I might go get her.

my neighbor has a mix similar to that, it's a smart and gentle dog, but kind of barks too much.

Is southridge the place that had that waterslide on the roof? Just a memory that popped into my head, i think i was too young to go down it or something. I've been in Southridge twice in 29 years.

Yeah, Southridge had the waterslide. I think that was around 85, give or take a couple of years. I believe the tower is still there.

Awww that dog looks so happy. I bet she'd get along fine with some introductions and lovins.

kristy wrote:Awww that dog looks so happy. I bet she'd get along fine with some introductions and lovins.

Adopted last night. So far, so good.

we have and australian shepard/irish setter mix...great dog...he used to be really horribly abused and neglected by previous owners, but is an awesome do to this day...hes not violent, doesnt bark much, but is a little skiddish at times...for instance, when he gets excited and wags his tail, he will sometimes knock something of the coffee table, and it will fall and make a noise, he will jump and scamper away all freaked out...ptsd