Because unlimited 'anything,' be it growth, expansion, raising production, more malls, more people, etc, cannot go on forever in a finite world. In fact, I'd argue that the textbook economic recession, as defined, is a good thing that we should be striving for. We need to be decreasing our consumption, decreasing our numbers, decreasing automobile & oil production, and on and on, if we're going to survive ourselves; a paradigm shift in how we think on a global scale.

And it's not depressing when nature recaptures man-made deserts, our deserts made of concrete and steel, where nature and ecosystems are replaced by malls and freeways and human blight. We either need to come into commonality with nature or ignore doing so, at our own peril.

The demand side of the economy dries up and goes away, starting with the middle.

I see people in the local mall. I don't see them with multiple bags like I used to.

check this website: http://deadmalls.com/stories.html#WA

It's a state-by-state listing of dead malls and I think pictures are attached.

It's also dependent on locale, really.

Northeast Ohio (where a lot of dead malls are) - a wasteland until you consider outdoor mini-cities like Crocker Park, Legacy Village and Westgate thrive just fine (outdoor malls in freezing NE Ohio . . . go figure). Yet all the enclosed malls are like zombie film sets.

Tyson's Corner and Arundle Mills in MD/VA - always packed to the rafters.

We didn't have high end malls to begin with. They were anchored by K-Mart, Sears or JC Penney. Then when Wally Mart put up a huge super-center near by, but of course NOT in the mall, the stores started leaving along with the dwindling customers. It's a shame too because the mall was close enough to revitalize the downtown area.

People around here do NOT shop on line because they can't afford the computer and internet service. But give them a Wally Mart and they'll go there every time.

I live 70 km from the shopping mall. Don't miss having one nearby. Never buy any thing from Wal-Fart.

Shop locally. My friends and neighbours own those businesses and need to make a living.

several from the 90's are in the failing stages from the empty store fronts or stores that sell cheap shit, cheaper. For more that 16 yrs one builder has been trying to build a new town center mall...with tax relief from the community development (morons) that it will bring jobs. Those jobs will come from the mall across the street thats dying. I went last month to Sears at our old mall the first in 3-4 years, pretty sad.