Walking around The Village at Fairview, there is something of an empty feeling as vacant spaces account for more than 30 percent of the retail space available. It’s a situation predicted years ago by D magazine.

“Without a radical repurposing, the villages at Allen and Fairview, despite the dreamy demographics of Collin County, will die a slow death,” Patrick Kennedy wrote in D Magazine in 2011. “The shopping center at the villages is not the first of the new. It is the last of the old, a descendent of the shopping mall or the suburban strip center more than it is a “main street town center,” its lofty aspiration.”

The main reason for the dire prediction, one of the things many shoppers like most: easy parking.

“The villages are a lot more convenient because you can be in and out quickly, but for a more serious shopping trip Stonebriar is better because there are more options,” senior Rachel Frank said.

The ability to park right outside the store of choice could be the downfall of the the villages according to Kennedy.

“Despite the centralized parking garages intended to allow visitors to “park once,” to get out, walk around, and window shop, the abundance of parking everywhere means that people drive to their store of choice and leave,” Kennedy wrote in D Magazine. “It’s impossible to find sanctuary that does not feel as though it is in the middle of a parking lot.”

Fairview mayor Darion Culbertson acknowledges things aren’t perfect but says there is a plan in place to change things up.

“Part of the issue is the layout of the village itself,” Culbertson said. “If you notice there is very poor signage and we are working on a brand new plan with the developer to redo signs, maybe move some of the small businesses that are in the back now up to the front, and to create a lot more excitement within the village itself. That’s what we are doing right now.”

Fairview city officials recognize the problem and are working to attract new businesses to the area.

“We have lost some additional businesses and it is obvious there are some boarded up stores,” Culbertson said. “We are working with them to attract new businesses here. This is a town initiative versus a development initiative. We actually have a new deal with Marriott Residence Inn and they should be breaking ground in the first quarter on a new hotel here. We also have a new restaurant where Cyclone Anayas was called Wild Salsa.”