Construction under way at Marin's only indoor mall

Skeptical on how this will turn out. This place has been in such a sad state of disrepair for years. Hopefully they will realize that catering to the illegal immigrant demographic does not bring out the shoppers who will spend.

Jeez. Why do many people think any change in Marin is "catering to the illegal immigrant demographic" if anything, per my insider no-its, this will be a mall a step above the current model and a step below the mall in Corte Madera. In other words - "not cheap to lease a space" place. As long as the Waldenbooks store is still there, I can handle the transition a little easier.

Take out the roof wrote:

Skeptical on how this will turn out. This place has been in such a sad state of disrepair for years. Hopefully they will realize that catering to the illegal immigrant demographic does not bring out the shoppers who will spend.

I don't get why the snobby marin people only think about race in every topic that comes up. Get a life and stop insulting other people.

The reason no one shops there is the stores are
pathetic. I don't know what happened to Macy's?
Sears still has stock from the 70's, and the
restaurants are just lousy. Corporate retail
in a rapid decline. I do, hope they keep the
bookstore, but it will probably be replaced with
another dollar store.

abc wrote:

<quoted text>
I don't get why the snobby marin people only think about race in every topic that comes up. Get a life and stop insulting other people.

My family is fourth generation Chinese American. This is not about race. If you grew up here, then you too would be shocked at how much the mall has changed. Having stores that sell junk is not a good way to bring desperately needed sales tax dollars to the city. We live in a nice place and we should expect to have a nice place to shop and spend our hard earned dollars. Next time you go to Northgate, take a look around. You will see a dead parking lot(most patrons get off of a bus in Terra Linda). If you are feeling daring, you should check out a movie. Don't go see anything that is mainstream though, because you will be sitting next to a non-English Mexican and her screaming kid(s).

The stores are crappy. Macy's has gone down the tubes ever since it replaced the Emporium. The only places worth shopping at are See's Candy and Waldenbooks. Dan is right - Sears has stuff left over from the 70's, Mervyn's sell crap from China that falls apart after one wearing and the entire places smells like a congomeration of that icky food court - fried food and burnt popcorn or something like that. Add to that the cramped seats at the mega-movie theater and I'll pass on the Northgate Mall for now. Can't wait to see the renovation. Hope it is a huge upgrade from it's current state of "sad-sackness!"

It's time to support downtown San Rafael businesses during this renovation. There are many unique shops and restaurants downtown. Like most malls, Northgate has become nothing but a major hangout for teens. They hardly spend a dime. Some of the ones that loiter at Northgate are even kinda thuggish looking. I never shop at Northgate any more. Besides, malls are generally tacky. Hopefully this remodelling project will help to attract people who will actually purchase products and services.

Take out the roof wrote:

<quoted text>
This is not about race... If you are feeling daring, you should check out a movie. Don't go see anything that is mainstream though, because you will be sitting next to a non-English Mexican and her screaming kid(s).

No, nothing about race in this post. What exactly is a "non-English Mexican"? I was not aware that there are English Mexicans. I always assumed Mexicans were of Spanish or Native origins.

Geeze, and article about the Northgate mall renovations and we still get bozos who comment about race and illegal immigrants on here again. And to "Take out the roof," you should be ashamed of yourself for sounding so racist. I am an American born Asian person too, and lest you forget our race was prosecuted at the turn of the century for wanting a better way of life in the U.S.

It's unfortunate that here we are in 2008 there are still people who cater to hate and bigotry. Do people not learn from history? Do people not realize that the way to move our species forward is through LOVE-ing one another regardless of color of skin or culture? We'll get nowhere as a human being if we continue to live in fear, and that's what racist bigots are: fearful people.

Time to wake up people and please stop posting about illegal immigrants in every comment. If you are so against it, go out there and change it instead of coming into these forums and ranting about them. Better yet, change yourself first.

oops, i meant turn of LAST year's century (circa late 1800s) - e.g., Chinese exclusion act., etc.

Jason wrote:

Geeze, and article about the Northgate mall renovations and we still get bozos who comment about race and illegal immigrants on here again. And to "Take out the roof," you should be ashamed of yourself for sounding so racist. I am an American born Asian person too, and lest you forget our race was prosecuted at the turn of the century for wanting a better way of life in the U.S.
It's unfortunate that here we are in 2008 there are still people who cater to hate and bigotry. Do people not learn from history? Do people not realize that the way to move our species forward is through LOVE-ing one another regardless of color of skin or culture? We'll get nowhere as a human being if we continue to live in fear, and that's what racist bigots are: fearful people.
Time to wake up people and please stop posting about illegal immigrants in every comment. If you are so against it, go out there and change it instead of coming into these forums and ranting about them. Better yet, change yourself first.

Your liberal rant just pulls at my heart strings. Let me guess, your family has one of those kiosks in the mall that sell junky trinkets.

Take out the roof wrote:

<quoted text>
Your liberal rant just pulls at my heart strings. Let me guess, your family has one of those kiosks in the mall that sell junky trinkets.

You are not Asian you just said that so it would appear that a minority wrote your racist comment. You can't even defend what you said so you attempt to insult someone for disagreeing with you. There are not any illegal immigrant posts on the Bolinas story yet. Maybe if you hurry you can spread your hate there too.

Well, it's been over two years since I set foot in this place, and I'm working on doubling that. A new food court at the East entrance? The current food court is at the South West entrance, so are they going to move it all or have two? Maybe we could just ditch the concept of selling things, and just sell fast food? They've failed miserably to maintain the parquet wood floor, so now it will be "polished concrete". Wow. What an upgrade! Oh, and they're shrinking the parking spaces so they can cover more of the land with buildings, so expect more door dents when parking there. Like theaters, these malls fail to realize that the reason they are losing money is that they won't make the kiddies behave, and the obnoxious teens are driving all the paying customers away. Macriech Company, look forward to being as obsolete at one screen theatres in the near future....

Mark 94903 wrote:

<quoted text>
You are not Asian you just said that so it would appear that a minority wrote your racist comment. You can't even defend what you said so you attempt to insult someone for disagreeing with you. There are not any illegal immigrant posts on the Bolinas story yet. Maybe if you hurry you can spread your hate there too.

Mark,
You mean to tell me that you can tell a person's race/ethnicity by how they write. Do whites write differently than Asians? I don't know too many white folks whose parents last names are Li and Hsu. Quit trying to play the race card on people who are anti- illegal immigration. Maybe you should talk to some Chinese Americans. You might be surprised to find that a lot of us are conservative.

the mall is not what your assumptions are. I work in the mall and I think that we have customers from all walks of life and backgrounds. Granted some things are in need of repair but that's what the remodeling would accomplish. And just because the mall has stores that don't suit your tastes dosent mean that the mall is crap. Like I said I work here and frequently see many people in all the stores. Oh and a side note the bookstore isn't the only store here go get a life and visit a library if you like the bookstore so much but hate the mall.