The other day Dakota at Curbed L.A. noted that, in this sketch of the Expo Line's proposed Santa Monica terminus, “even the sea gulls are happy.” It's not only the sight of contented seagulls that lends an air of whimsy to this scene, though, nor even the fact that the “Subway to the Sea” may not actually be open for travel until well into the 2030s. It's also the notion that the two stores depicted here, Sears and Macy's, might survive the current recession.

The debt-ridden Macy's, according to Forbes, is about to fire 7,000 employees while its stock “has been hammered to single digits.” Sears, meanwhile, has been among

the hardest hit retailers and recently announced

it was going to stop paying matching funds into its employees'

retirement accounts.

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