This is a continuation from A Gilded Box?

In an effort to be part of the solution rather, than simply grumbling about what I don’t like, I did some research on what I thought would be better alternatives to the proposed Georgian Square.

In the course of that search I found a sustainable WalMart in McKinney, TX, a renovated strip mall, Abercorn Common in Savannah, GA, that has earned Silver LEED certification and a new construction open air shopping center in Denver, CO which in addition to being LEED certified has encouraged its tenants to go green as well.

What do all of these developments have in common?

They all could have been large asphalt lots bordered by Big Box retailers.

Instead the developers, Melaver, Inc aimed to have a profound, positive impact on the communities in which they lived and a notable lack of impact on the environments in which those communities existed.

So instead of simply courting retailers to fill physical space and the amenity void, they found a way to make the whole project environmentally and fiscally responsible.

None managed to delete parking lots altogether but adjustments were made to decrease the negative impact on the environment. For example in the Abercorn Common development, porous pavement was used in the parking lots to allow rainwater to drain naturally. Read about the other sustainable features here.