tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post8200449715720576804..comments2024-03-20T05:20:53.924-04:00Comments on What's In Store: Visiting Eastland, before it's gone for goodUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-71961936987890764812010-05-02T15:58:01.543-04:002010-05-02T15:58:01.543-04:00Don't forget World Bazaar, a fantastic advent...Don't forget World Bazaar, a fantastic adventure through the Orient with prices that were very reasonable.<br /><br />I also have fond memories of our SCCA events in the parking lot on the weekends in the mid seventies.Sound An Alarmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10983188289676532181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-36117915694118674912010-04-28T16:42:32.870-04:002010-04-28T16:42:32.870-04:00I have good memories of Eastland as well. I moved ...I have good memories of Eastland as well. I moved here at age 18 in 1988 to attend UNCC. Eastland was the mall of choice for my age group. I bought my first-ever bedroom suite at the Eastland Sears, blew a ton of money in the arcade, and have bought clothes at Belk, Sears, Champs and Burlington Coat Factory.<br /><br />Besides the already-mentioned dramatic increase in Section 8 housing and illegal immigrants, sensationalism of citizens has hurt the area. I know a few former residents of the area that started bloviating about how you dare not go to Eastland without a bulletproof vest - because of ONE shooting. That kind of talk has done as much as anything to hasten the decline.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-84366348694567603302010-04-27T09:56:39.407-04:002010-04-27T09:56:39.407-04:00Nameless, thank you for your insightful condemnati...Nameless, thank you for your insightful condemnation of an entire quadrant of the city in the mid 70's. Especially since, being a teenager in the 80's, your deep grasp of "lower middle class" & "drug problems" when Eastland opened came from the perspective of a child. In retrospect, maybe you should have ventured outside your own neighborhood.DMWright1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-38191181519017268572010-04-27T08:14:13.633-04:002010-04-27T08:14:13.633-04:00The East side was already lower middle class &...The East side was already lower middle class & had drug/crime problems when the mall was built. The mall was heralded as an improvement for that reason. Eastland was really nice for about 10 years, then it was a downward spiral, turning into a teen hangout for all economic groups. It was a dumping ground for kids by parents and became a popular drug hookup point in the 80s. I was a teen then, so I know firsthand. Also, no one considers the impact that Carolina Place in Pineville had in taking away Eastland's adult suburban middle class customers; even before Southpark remodeled.Namelessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-74684469071779070102010-04-26T22:10:10.860-04:002010-04-26T22:10:10.860-04:00Its too bad, I hear that side of town was really n...Its too bad, I hear that side of town was really nice and rivaled south charlotte up until the 90s. I kinda have a feelin another part of town will experience the same thing, University City.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-88625443470284173612010-04-26T20:32:27.423-04:002010-04-26T20:32:27.423-04:00I remember going to eastland mall to see smokey an...I remember going to eastland mall to see smokey and the bandit on my first date with my future wife.We then ate at arthurs restaurant in the mall,and then got ice cream at farrells.A pretty good date for 2 17 year olds in 1978!!! I will miss going to sears,morrison's cafeteria,belk,dillards,the food court,and watching the minor league/semi pro hockey team skate and practice on early sat morning.A piece of history is gone,but i think uptons was the first red flag for that area when they boarded up in the mid 90's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-68758068773162160722010-04-26T18:52:54.247-04:002010-04-26T18:52:54.247-04:00It is just a freaking mall.It is just a freaking mall.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-74128477326160669502010-04-26T17:24:14.578-04:002010-04-26T17:24:14.578-04:00Eh- East Charlotte looks like Myers Park compared ...Eh- East Charlotte looks like Myers Park compared to some once great parts of Detroit. Believe me - it could be much much worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-81639101601930917052010-04-26T17:18:47.988-04:002010-04-26T17:18:47.988-04:00You would hardly know it from what has happened to...You would hardly know it from what has happened to Eastland Mall, but it was once a far better mall than SouthPark. What a horrible mess Albemarle Rd has become. I am sorry to say that side of town will not come back until the multitude of apartment complexes no longer support their owners who will then demolish to redevelop. Unfortunately, I suspect that will take decades.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-552723854635747246.post-83777948973906566862010-04-26T15:57:25.034-04:002010-04-26T15:57:25.034-04:00As a Charlotte native, it both saddens and angers ...As a Charlotte native, it both saddens and angers me what has happened not only to Eastland, but the entire east side of Charlotte. I last walked through Eastland a few years ago and I almost began to cry. The mall was no longer what it once was---a grand mall when it opened in 1975, the best in Charlotte. I took ice skating lessons at the Ice Capades Chalet. I grew up to work at Wilsons Leather Store and Belk. I ate at Annabelle's and Farrell's (an old-fashioned restaurant with an 1890's theme and a piano that played by itself), and bought my wedding dress at the formal store there. It was the place to be for teenagers back in the late 70's, 80's and early 90's. <br /><br />You wonder what happened to ruin the mall. It's simple--the influx of Section 8 apartments, illegal immigrants and gangs. Poverty, gangs and crime took over, and the people who could do so moved out. The ones who remained were either too elderly or poor to move, and when the elderly people who first populated this once-great section of town passed away, they were replaced with no-goods who rented the homes and turned them into drug houses. I know this to be true, because I have lived through it all. And finally, I too moved out when it became unbearable to me to see the blight and the places I grew up with wither away. <br /><br />So sad, but totally preventable. And I will NEVER forgive the City of Charlotte for letting this happen to my side of town.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com