(fyi malls still exist too!)
Malls could have been a pretty good solution to a growing problem. I say this because I live a few minutes from a defunct mall that predates the behemoths of the 80s and 90s, and I've thought about how it could be made useful. Imagine a mall that had a grocer, a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. Add in an ACE Hardware, post office and Doctors office and it would be pretty useful. I think malls could have been a useful response to American's car driven city design, but for some reason they just wound up being consoooom product centers.
Edit: used the word "useful" four times like a grade schooler, leaving it as a monument to poor writing.
(fyi malls still exist too!)
Malls could have been a pretty good solution to a growing problem. I say this because I live a few minutes from a defunct mall that predates the behemoths of the 80s and 90s, and I've thought about how it could be made useful. Imagine a mall that had a grocer, a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. Add in an ACE Hardware, post office and Doctors office and it would be pretty useful. I think malls could have been a useful response to American's car driven city design, but for some reason they just wound up being consoooom product centers.