Monday, Feb. 19, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Henderson will finally attain a sociological distinction. With the Feb. 28 opening of the Galleria at Sunset, it will become a participant in the malling of America.
That's a term Jim Frey, a UNLV sociology professor, uses to describe the tendency of cities to decentralize their communities while their citizens congregate in malls.
"As a trend, it's pretty prominent and reflects the reorganization of cities from single-centered to multicentered metro regions," he said.
When cities were smaller, downtown areas were city centers, defined by government buildings, the pool hall, the gas station, the neighborhood school and the city park, Frey said.
But today, public places are located throughout metropolitan areas.
City centers and places for recreation have come to be defined by malls, he said.
"It becomes a leisure activity to bring the family together to shop instead of playing basketball. Malls become the castles that celebrate consumption as a leisure lifestyle."
Going to the mall is not just a functional shopping expedition, he said.
It's like going to the carnival, with "a diverse kind of space, color and sound."
Like a carnival. And like a casino.
"It creates an environment enticing you to spend money and feel good about it."
The malling of America is not necessarily a bad thing, he said.
Malls are pleasant, unlike city buildings and bureaucratic offices, "where you want to do business and get out of there."
And with the Galleria's strategic location, he expects it will create a sense of identity and commonality between older Henderson and Green Valley.
"The mall will replace Main Street where diverse backgrounds come together. It will become a regional city center where you'll find a lot of social activity."
Malls are also protected, safe public places, he said.
"You're not going to end up in a dark corner where you're going to get mugged."
And malls make a neighborhood an attractive place to live, he said.
"There is a quality-of-life factor -- an availability of shopping and peripheral stores around there. It becomes a commercial center -- a town square."
As a Henderson resident, will Frey frequent the mall?
"If I can help it, I don't go to any mall at all," he said.
And yet, he said, the Galleria will eliminate the need for Henderson shoppers to go to Las Vegas malls.
"It isolates me to my own neighborhood and community."
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