It just crossed my mind, with the advance of technology will we get to the point where we have too many buildings.  I am thinking generally but of course my focus is alway Atlantic City centric.  For example, as online banking increases do we really need big bank buildings anymore?  With everything being accessible on a smart phone or other electronic device do we need as many movie theaters?(AC doesn’t have this problem). We have already lost video stores, we have already lost record stores.  Haberdasheries don’t really exist anymore, shoe stores.  What do we do with the buildings?

The one thing that seems to be occupying space is the “junk shop”.  The store where you can buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need and maybe that one thing you do happen to need.  Restaurants and bars, I guess, will still need space.  However in this age we don’t have the dine out culture anymore.  When we do go out it is the box stores where the meal is the same in Boston as it was when you had it in Chicago.  I guess I am nostalgic about some things and times.  I long for some of what was good in the bygone days.

Back to the original thought though, what do we do?  Do we tear the buildings down and create more green space?  That is a nice concept except that green space requires maintenance and who would do it?  Is green space appreciated today?  Now I realize that times are tough right now and people don’t have disposable cash but where would people spend money if they had it?  Well I guess that leads us to the next issue, how do we increase the income level in the area which would lead to a demand for different amenities.

Ultimately this all turns on economics.  Nothing changes without capital investment.  Capital is not invested unless the investor believes that there will be an significant return on their investment (profit).  In todays economy, money is making money without substantial investment in buildings or human resources.  The market collapse of 2008 caused a lot of corporate streamlining and then the corporations discovered that they could remain streamlined and turn a profit.  Technology had a lot to do with that.  There was a time when a fax was inappropriate and now business is transacted by email, maybe even text message.  Meetings are held in group chat, and web meetings.  Who needs an office?  Your able to always take your calls, receive and reply to email messages, store documents in the cloud.  What do we do with the buildings?

Sports arenas, concert venues, theaters (live), recreation space all seem unchanged today.

This is a rambling stream of consciousness post but I guess that is what a blog is anyway, a mind dump.