Here are the pictures I took at the Carousal Mall on Thursday. I went up to the 6th floor and I almost had a heart attack on the elevator (I'm afraid of hieghts), but I made it. I thought the 6th floor would have had more detailed things such as mini-models or something. So at the moment this Destiny USA things seems like a dream and less than a Destiny.

Mall of America vs. DestiNY USA

For our project of researching Destiny USA and greenwashing, I was thinking about comparing America's biggest mall to date; The Mall of America. I want to research how the community felt about having a Megamall built in their communities. I think this information will help to predict how Destiny USA will affect Syracuse. According to the website http://www.ci.bloomington.mn.us/main_side/history/history.htm two years before the Mall of America was built, Bloomington's population was 86,355 (1990). But in the year 1998, 6 years after the Mall of America was built the population raised to 88,375. Also during this time the Mall of America was the biggest employeer, having employed 13,000 people out of the 98,300 people employed in Bloomington. Although the city of Bloomington had a increase in it's population after the Mall of America was built, its population has been decreasing. The population in 2005 was 84,347. Now I don't know if this has anything to do with the Mall of America but its just interesting to look at and by doing that we can possibly predict the same pattern for Syracuse after and "if" Destiny USA is built.

Greenwashing and Destiny

Destiny USA is supposed to be a super regional shopping center." Its contractors claim that this "Retail City" will operate 100% without using fossil fuels. But many suspect that Destiny USA is greenwashing. Which is the act of misleading purchasers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. According to Syracuse Greens, "Destiny USA subsidizes a private developer to be the city's planner. Its marketing hype about powering it with renewables does not change its basic character as anti-ecological monument to sprawl and consumerism that depends on exploiting cheap labor and natural resources the world over. Destiny USA would make Syracuse itself a barracks for low-wage workers who service upscale tourists." According to the Green Marketing Machine, for companies and corporations sometimes it's cheaper (and therefore better) to say you are going green, than to actually go green.