Summary
Churches across the U.S. are grappling with dwindling attendance and financial instability, forcing many to close or sell properties.
The Diocese of Buffalo has shut down 100 parishes since the 2000s and plans to close 70 more. Nationwide, church membership has dropped from 80% in the 1940s to 45% today.
Some churches repurpose their land to survive, like Atlanta’s First United Methodist Church, which is building affordable housing.
Others, like Calcium Church in New York, make cutbacks to stay open. Leaders warn of the long-term risks of declining community and support for churches.
That’s a distinction without a difference.
Commodified spaces do not need the poor, and in fact, they want them to go away.
Another public space that’s disappearing as malls close.
Should also add that malls are not public. It may be something that can be typically accessed without paying, but they’ve made it quite clear in the past that it is not a forum for public use. Malls do plenty to kick the “undesirables” out.
There are other public venues we could have used like parks or plazas but it’s hard to accommodate for cold winter weather where everyone wants to be indoors. A library might have worked if it wasn’t social etiquette to not talk in libraries.
I don’t think that’s the case. Every scam needs suckers, that dependence doesn’t make it a good thing.
True. If someone “looks” homeless a mall cop will come and escort them out.
What we need are communal indoor spaces. People ITT keep insisting libraries would allow for game nights but that seems alien and strange to me, not something I’ve ever heard.