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Comment by learc83 | Hacker News Reader

When I was a kid in the 90s, I remember malls being much more of a destination--they had big atriums with fountains and indoor trees.

By the early 2000s, when I was in high school, they were much more utilitarian. This was way before online shopping was killing their profits.

I'm assuming it had something to do with consolidation and the new owners trying to extract maximum short term profits.

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As a teen in the 90's, "the mall" was absolutely a destination. Our parents would drop us off on a Friday or Saturday, and we'd spend hours there with our friends.

Recently, a local mall near me (Lansing, MI) updated their policy to limit the number of "unsupervised youths" roaming their mall Fri/Sat evenings. Apparently the complaints have gone up, regarding teens and younger children running and being loud.

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2016/02...

I also distinctly remember enjoying going to the mall as a kid because of the fountains and glass ceiling atrium, lots of seating spaces, is that not a thing anymore?

None of the malls in the Atlanta area that I can think of have fountains or lots of seating anymore. Many of them do still have the glass ceilings.

Portland's Clackamas Town Center used to have a beautiful skating rink, large fountains next to escalators, and foliage. This has mostly been replaced with a seating area, a larger food court, and more shops. It's considerably less appealing to just _be_ in, at least for me. I miss stuff like that.

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