A
festival marketplace is a concept of
James W. RouseJames Wilson Rouse , founder of The Rouse Company, was a pioneering American real estate developer, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist...
and the Rouse Company in the United States to revitalize downtown areas in major cities in the late 20th century. Festival marketplaces were a leading
downtownA central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city...
revitalizationUrban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of reconstruction...
strategy in American cities during the 1970s and 1980s.
In the second half of the 20th century, Rouse and his company became major developers of suburban strip shopping centers and pioneered large
shopping mallA shopping mall, shopping centre or shopping center is a building or multiple buildings consisting of a complex of shops representing leading merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a convenient parking area – a modern,...
s. In many cities, these were seen as escalating the failure of retail businesses and causing further deterioration of older, downtown core areas.
In the late 1970s, Rouse and his company, took on some of the inner city dilemmas their earlier work had been accused of exacerbating. Studies had shown downtown areas were often perceived as both dirty and dangerous. In response, they developed the festival marketplace concept as a way to reverse the negative trends and attract both suburban residents and out-of-town visitors to the downtown areas.
A typical festival marketplace would include local involvement in the creation of a safe and trendy attraction intended to serve as a major catalyst for other redevelopment. Generally, a festival marketplace offers major
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, specialty retail shops, and an international
food courtA food court is a plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining...
. Often, there is an exciting nightlife with music, dancing and live entertainment. The more successful projects seemed to benefit from waterfront locations and secure parking.
List of festival marketplaces
- Underground Atlanta
Underground Atlanta is a shopping and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, near the intersection of the east and west MARTA rail lines. First opened in 1969, it takes advantage of the viaducts built over the city's many railroad tracks...
, Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia, as well as the urban core of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States....
- Harborplace
Harborplace is a festival marketplace in Baltimore, Maryland, that opened in 1980 as a centerpiece of the revival of downtown Baltimore. As its name suggests, it is located on the Inner Harbor....
, Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City in order to distinguish it from surrounding...
- Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
, Boston, Massachusetts
- Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
, Chicago, Illinois
- Aloha Tower Marketplace
The Aloha Tower Marketplace is a waterfront shopping center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Located at the Honolulu Harbor, the Aloha Tower Marketplace features several declared national landmarks including the Aloha Tower, Falls of Clyde and Hawaii Maritime Center. Aloha Tower Marketplace was completed in...
, Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu is the capital of and the most populous census-designated place in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Although Honolulu refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and the county are consolidated, known as the City and County of Honolulu, and the city and...
- Jacksonville Landing
The Jacksonville Landing is a 125,000 ft2 shopping and dining complex in Jacksonville, Florida. It has been compared to New York City's South Street Seaport, Boston's Faneuil Hall or Miami's Bayside. all developed by the Rouse Company.-History:...
, Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida, and is the county seat of Duval County. Since 1968, as a result of the consolidation of the city and county government, and a corresponding expansion of the city limits to include almost the entire county, Jacksonville became the...
- The Grove at Farmers Market
The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, California, built by the real estate firm Caruso Affiliated on parts of the Farmers Market.-History:...
, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
- Hollywood and Highland
The Hollywood & Highland Center is an entertainment, retail and hotel complex at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district in Los Angeles. The center also includes the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre, home to the Academy Awards. The historic site was once...
, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
- Bayside Marketplace
Bayside Marketplace is an indoor/outdoor marketplace located in downtown Miami, just south of the AmericanAirlines Arena on Biscayne Bay. The mall opened in 1987, during the 1980s downtown building boom that spawned the Wachovia Financial Center in 1984 and the Bank of America Tower in 1987. It was...
, Miami, FloridaMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
- Jackson Brewery
Jackson Brewery, commonly known as Jax Brewery by locals, is a building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana containing shops and restaurants and primarily frequented by tourists. Constructed in 1891, it originally was the central brewery for Jax Beer, and in the 1960s was the...
, New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
- Riverwalk
Riverwalk is a name often given to a foreshoreway or pedestrian area adjacent to a river.Some famous examples of riverwalks are:-In the United States:* Chicago Riverwalk on the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois* Detroit River Walk in Detroit, Michigan...
, New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
- South Street Seaport
The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District. The Seaport is usually considered a historical district, distinct from the neighboring Financial District...
, New York City
- Waterside
The Waterside, a festival marketplace on the Elizabeth River in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, opened June 1, 1983. A critical component of Norfolk's ongoing post-WWII revitalization, the complex connects via a cross-street pedestrian bridge to a parking garage, sits at the foot of the Portsmouth...
, Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 234,403 as of the 2000 census, it is Virginia's second-largest incorporated city behind its eastern neighbor, Virginia Beach....
- Jack London Square
Jack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon, the ...
, Oakland, CaliforniaOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
- Arizona Center
Arizona Center is a shopping center and office complex located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.Arizona Center was designed by the Rouse Company and opened in the fall of 1990 to great fanfare and high expectations, as it was considered one of the original components of the ongoing downtown...
, Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
- Station Square
Station Square is a indoor and outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex located in the South Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the second largest city in the state. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2006, it was estimated to have fallen to 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is...
- Westfield Horton Plaza
Westfield Horton Plaza is a 5 level outdoor shopping mall located in downtown San Diego and remarkable for its bright colors, architectural tricks and odd spatial rhythms. It stands on 6 and a half city blocks and is adjacent to the city's historic Gaslamp Quarter...
, San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
- Ghirardelli Square
Ghirardelli Square is a landmark with shops and restaurants in the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco, California.Ghirardelli Square once featured over 40 specialty shops and restaurants, in addition to the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop, known for its world famous ice cream...
, San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
- Pier 39
Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco, California. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, an interpretive center for the Marine Mammal Center, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of...
, San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
- St. Louis Union Station
St. Louis Union Station, a National Historic Landmark, is a former passenger train terminal in St. Louis, Missouri. Once the world's largest and busiest train station, it was converted in the early 1980s into a luxury hotel, shopping center, and entertainment complex...
, St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
- Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
Union Station is the grand ceremonial train station designed to be the entrance to Washington, D.C., when it opened in 1908.It is one of the busiest and best-known places in Washington, D.C., visited by 32 million people each year. The terminal is served by Amtrak, MARC and VRE commuter railroads,...
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
Failed festival marketplaces
- Water Street Pavilion, Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
- Union Station
The Indianapolis Union Station was one of the first union station in the world, opening on September 20, 1853, by the Indianapolis Union Railway within the Wholesale District of Indianapolis, Indiana at 39 Jackson Place. A bigger station was constructed in 1888...
, Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
- Portside, Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio within the Great Lakes Region and the county seat of Lucas County. Named after Toledo, Spain, it is located on the western end of Lake Erie, on the Michigan border. It is the principal city in the Toledo Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the 2000 census,...
- Sixth Street Marketplace, Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. Like all Virginia municipalities incorporated as cities, it is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
- Festival Market, Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 65th largest in the United States. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
- Saint Anthony Main
Saint Anthony Main is a shopping and office complex located on Main Street in the Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood of Southeast Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Commonly the area is associated with Northeast, Minneapolis as it is actually northeast of downtown on the east side of...
, Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities,...
- Bandana Square
Bandana Square is now an office center but was originally designed to be an enclosed shopping center in Energy Park in Saint Paul, Minnesota...
, Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
- West End Marketplace, Dallas, Texas
Dallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...