It's sad to see that malls have died in the States. Conceptually I kind of prefer the pre-mall era in the US, when all the businesses were downtown in these grand old buildings, before they abandoned them and moved into the malls. But that said... I have a lot of great memories of the mall in my hometown. I spent many hours in the Sultan's Castle arcade, the bookstore, and the music stores. I've often wondered why malls are healthy and as popular as ever in Japan, while dead in the US. Oh well.