h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

'How do you do that?' asked Graham.

Yes! Waynette, how do you draw like that? asked cc, 'I've been trying it all week, but all I get is a sticky page, where I've spread marmalade all over it.'

'It's a gift,' said Waynette, and went on drawing. 'It seems to me that a town centre depends on its people. If you provide them with the things they want, they're more likely to come to the place, and spend time here.

'I love this philosophy, Waynette' replied cc. Can we have a Cafe please? So I can come and eat toast and marmalade, and do magic Angel drawing, just using my sticky fingers? Will you teach me?

'OK' said Waynette. 'Coffees are on you, though. And on condition you send your drawings to the Post.



Nice work, mvp!

Thanks CC.

I could do with a Waynette . I'm cross with the developers about the way they've turned our town centre into a wasteland and apparently gone away and left it like that.

There's a growing trend toward combining housing with retail space on my side of the ocean. Failing malls can get a lift by having lots of residents next door. Why buy things online when you can stroll a few hundred yards are buy them in convenient, cheerful shops?

That comment about putting the movie theater on the second floor is exactly what they did at Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass. Avalon Apartments and Jefferson Apartments are *next* to Legacy Place. I know a couple who lived in Jefferson Apartments for a few months, and they *loved* being able to walk to the cafes and Whole Foods supermarket from their apartment.

The Natick Mall incorporates a lot of apartments as well, as do some downtown Boston sites and a redesign in the North Shore area. It works!

I have heard a rumour the developers are scaling down their plans, which might make sense. And we will get a community hall, only smaller and round the corner from the shopping centre. Whether we have to pay for it is still unclear.

I wish all of you the best. Those who built the shopping malls of the 1950s and 1960s assumed that people could travel to them using cars and cheap gasoline/petrol.

As we now know, the cost of fuel can jump up and down. Since the housing stock in many places is aging, and new accommodations need to be built anyway, why not increase their desirability by situating them near shops, eateries, and community function rooms?

Quite right.