As technology improved how did the places where people shopped change?

Answer 1

One of the first things to change shopping was the car. Before the car people lived as close to the city center because they had to walk, took a trolley, or rode a horse to do business or shop. This is one reason in many cities today you find old houses ringing the downtown area. After the car was invented people could move away from the downtown area. This created a urbanization of cities and because they moved stores soon followed them to the new housing because people didn't want to drive downtown anymore. The downtown areas also started to decay and businesses moved to the newer areas. After WW2 this movement towards new housing tracts grew and eventually malls sprang up around the new housing. Schools were built to accommodate the young families and no one went to the older areas of the cities for services. Today, there is a movement to bring people back to the older parts of cities so old buildings are having investors rehabilitate them and reuse them for newer purposes. The cities want to make the downtown sections that have fallen to ruin and full of homeless vital again. New stores, art galleries, coffee houses, concert venues, and apartments bring people back to these places.