So.... time to mourn places of our youth.

[David S]

lets face it, the mall is basically a dead thing nowdays. I really miss them. Life goes on.

The mall really was a phenomenon that may have been overdone, but we certainly still need some of it to be human means to officiate humanity, which means having relationships with other people connecting reconciling communicating gathering place will always be important maybe in the future that can be less about buying things and more about doing things

So

 

[AlanLichty]

There are still malls in downtown Portland that aren't that radically different from the scene you have posted here.

Seems like reaching back a bit but but I do recall when they opened the first shopping mall in Phoenix (Park Central Mall) in 1957. I don't have any images dating back to that era beyond scrapbook prints my parents took. It was considered a radical idea at the time and retailers that weren't part of the mall scene anguished over the fact that the mall was even built. We all felt sorry for the left out retailers and then drove to the mall to shop anyway

 

[JimFox]

Love the photo Dave.

While it's true lots of malls have died and been converted to other business or torn down, to Alan's point the mall of still around. The Mall of Orange was torn down, the Westminster Mall I believe is gone. But the Buena Park mall is still active, though it's been renamed to Downtown Buena Park. South Coast Plaza which is a ritzy mall is still open, and the Mall of America is still alive and kicking, my family goes there on every trip back to Minnesota.

So news of the death of malls might be a bit premature...