Tysons Corner (Alaska) fact of the day
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Tysons Corner (Alaska) fact of the day
byTyler CowenAugust 28, 2026 at 2:37 pm
> The centerpiece is Tysons Corner Center, today the eighth largest mall in the country, andone of the largestsub-city-sized markets for office space. It ishalf-ownedby the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is the state-owned corporation that invests oil revenue on behalf of Alaska’s citizens, andhalf-ownedby Macerich, a giant REIT, which is in turn owned by hundreds of large institutional investors and many individuals.
This very interesting essay by Joseph Lawler argues that liquid real estate markets, and distanced ownership, militate against beauty.
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Cancelled for wongthink
2026-08-28 15:37:23
7 1 [#](https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/08/tysons-corner-alaska-fact-of-the-day.html?commentID=161071896 "Permalink to this comment")
The buildings that I find interesting are Kress buildings in many cities. So Kress was a retailer and its architecturally significant buildings are on main streets in city centers. Maybe if they were just blah then the people in that city would have been upset?
Movie palaces are another type of building from national companies that are on a main street in a city center and they are architecturally significant.
Walmarts and movie theaters are now built outside the city centers and nobody cares what they look like they just want a parking space and easy in and out and cheap stuff or cheap entertainment. But Walmart is making Bentonville very nice because they are competing with Amazon for talent.
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rayward
2026-08-28 15:38:03
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So the culprit for the decline in aesthetics is the consolidation of ownership? That's why apartment buildings owned by large REITs are so damn ugly? Why single family homes in the burbs owned by REITs and PE are so damn ugly? Why high rise office buildings everywhere owned by REITs lack any character? Has Cowen taken up drinking? Or just seen the light? People hate AI because they don't trust Big Tech, which is ugly too. Duh. Small is beautiful.
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Gilligan
2026-08-28 17:18:25
3 0 [#](https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/08/tysons-corner-alaska-fact-of-the-day.html?commentID=161071915 "Permalink to this comment")
The single family surburban homes are typically spec homes built by builders. It's consistent with the broad premise.
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rayward
2026-08-28 15:45:23
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Okay, I played the Edmund Burke card earlier today. I know, I've read the Why I Am Not a Conservative essay too. But progress can be ugly. The fascists thought it was progress. As did the communists.
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Wayfaring Stranger
2026-08-28 18:21:03
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I don't have a problem with thea apperance of 7-11 or any convenience stores, but if they were charging $10 for coffee because they spent millions on architects to make beautiful convenience stores I'd have a problem with that, and their competitors would happily smash them with low-cost stores with utilitarian design.
The reason stores and malls aren't up to Tyler's beauty standards is because the typical American doesn't want that. Simple enough.
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Peter
2026-08-28 16:49:55
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Macerich is one of the country’s better mall companies, Simon Properties and Brookfield are two others.
Namdar, Kohan and Moonbeam are at the, ahem, other end of the spectrum.
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Student
2026-08-28 18:45:07
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Interesting. The argument makes a lot of sense. But, on the other hand, consolidation is exactly what you expect when an industry aggressively drives down its “idiot index.” It seems like both consolidation and the decline in aesthetics could reflect an industry approaching its idiot index asymptote… where everything must be hyper-standardized to maximize efficiency.
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carlospln
2026-08-28 20:14:00
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SHORTER: MR commenters don't give a f _ ck
Sad.
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Jack
2026-08-28 20:56:33
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Is the thinking here that a building is easier to sell or change ownership if it’s boring? Does this explain why fast food establishments like McDonald’s etc all look the same!
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Defund the left
2026-08-28 16:01:32
1 2 [#](https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/08/tysons-corner-alaska-fact-of-the-day.html?commentID=161071902 "Permalink to this comment")
Even if it comes from the right, yet another essay lamenting "America's soul-crushing suburban districts" should not be subsidized by federal taxes (grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which should be defunded).
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MikeP
2026-08-28 15:22:43
0 3 [#](https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/08/tysons-corner-alaska-fact-of-the-day.html?commentID=161071892 "Permalink to this comment")
In response to asking about Tyson's coronor, Google AI helpfully notes...
> The legendary boxer Mike Tyson is alive. Viral social media reports claiming a coroner or publicist confirmed his death are entirely false. He did, however, experience a severe, near-fatal ulcer flare-up in June 2024 that required eight blood transfusions.
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Dismalist
2026-08-28 16:07:44
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The usual collectivist poison. Somebody objects to how many people find it best to live. Combined with a yearning for the good old days. Open your own 7-11.
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