The layout of the ground level floor in Phipps Plaza gives you an overview of what this mall stands for. On the main floor, which is shown, you can hear a waterfall in the background an there are comfortable couch chairs and couches for people to rest comfortably. I believe there is a hidden message in this interior space saying “We will take care of you if you take care of us.” This means that as long as the rich people in Buckhead keep feeding into the economy of Phipps, Phipps will continue to treat their customers well above average. This is definitely not your typical mall.

These two grand stair cases made me feel like I was in a really fancy place. How high they went symbolized how high I have to reach to success in my perspective. Everywhere they had very expensive stores, expensive furniture, and even the chairs were nice. When you walk into Phipps you get that upscale feel for the mall. A grand stair case is only in someone’s home if they have wealth, which obviously the people in this mall do.

This grand chandelier in the middle of Phipps Plaza creates an expensive look to this grand estate. Owned by Simon, the number one real estate company in the U.S., Phipps meets the luxurious standards its shoppers hold it up too. Wealthy people are more likely to have a chandelier in their house I believe this is one of the marketing tools the property group uses to draw in their rich customers who often reside in places like Buckhead and parts of north Georgia. Having this chandelier send a subtle message that this shopping mall has more class than the others.

www.reporternewspapers.net/2013/03/21/shoplifting-at-lenox-lifts-crime-numbers/

“Theft from Lenox was one of Buckhead’s biggest crimes in 2012”. The Atlanta Police Department works closely with Simon Mall to keep the upscale Lenox customers safe. With a mall containing millions of people coming through a year, it’s only expected for there to be some shoplifting. However, this is one of the top crimes in Buckhead. This is mainly caused by those who don’t live in Buckhead and can’t afford the clothes that are high priced in the store. The police say these crimes are mostly committed by juvenile who come to Lenox via MARTA and take rides back to their homes. Police also characterize these juvenile as children that are below average performers in school, not involved in after school activities and have idle time to get into trouble. Trends of shoplifting are decreasing since new police measurements and security have been put into place but the long term visual won’t be able to be shown for a short time.

http://www.simon.com/mall/lenox-square/about

I looked through some images of how Lenox Mall used to look. Apparently, it wasn’t an enclosed mall. This goes to prove how many changes Lenox Mall has gone through to get to the high scale status it is. I found an archive of a picture from inside Lenox Mall from the eighties and things didn’t look as they do now. This pictures didn’t show all the extravagant stores Lenox has to offer, it showed wide open spaces like an outlet mall. They opened their doors just before 1960, targeting to tend their businesses to rich, wealthy, white homeowners near Buckhead. Suburban communities soon started shopping in this area as the Mall drew more people. Its renovations has added to its tourist attractiveness. Even from the people who own the mall, Simon Property Group, you can tell they cater to the upscale customers who have more money than most people.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lenox-square-atlanta-2

Yelp is a review service website designed to show customer reviews on places. As I surfed the web I found some reviews on Lenox’s inside environment. There are many mixed emotions about Lenox Mall. On one hand it is an upscale Mall that provides attributes to Buckhead making it display the wealth that describes the people who live around it. However, some people don’t like the crowdedness of Lenox and believe it’s too congested for their taste. Some eve prefer Phipps Plaza to Lenox Mall. No matter where you go in this area of Buckhead it’s very rich, classy, and upscale. Designed for the rich, wealthy, and mostly white homeowners who live in North Atlanta, Buckhead, and classy high rises throughout the city. People describe Lenox as a good mall to “people watch”. This is defined as entertaining yourself by watching the actions of those around you in a mall. Lenox is very crowded and gets more congested as time passes on. Moderately priced stores have led people earning less than the wealthy shoppers to flock to this high end fabulous mall bringing in diverse crowds, changing the nature and environment of Lenox. This being a website where people have observed Lenox from the inside and written their opinions on the internet, I thought I’d be a good website to analyze Lenox’s interior environment along with observations I’ve made by myself.

In this class, we write in a less formal style than previous classes I’ve been in. We are told to incorporate pictures and different multimedia to connect our writing with the topic asked to write about. In our reading summaries, I try to analyze each paragraph and go into depth about what they are talking about. When talking about the built environment I go into how the built environment affects people that live around the area. I talk about how the people in control have power over the masses by shaping their environment. Now that I have a rubric for the reading summaries through our grades I can improve my writing for the better and really analyze any blog or piece of writing. I do need to improve on using my sources correctly. Some of my strengths are using images to connect to my writing. I should expand on the captions I put for them and insert them into my paragraphs instead of at the end. It will be easier to connect. This class is teaching me a lot about how to incorporate writing structure into our digital world. Many of these skills I will be able to use at a professional job and beyond, making my resume look really good. In the future I’m going to attempt to do some of the extra activities offered to us. The extra readings and practice will help me in the rest of my assignments throughout the semester.