"Has become a mall society" - And the US has spent the last 30 years abandoning or malls. When I was a teenager it was definitely the place to hang out on weekends!
I remember arguing with my mom loudly in English in its halls, and kids would come up to us to practice their english and try to help us :)
At the Motorola store in GUM I bought an unlocked Motorola ROKR with Cyrillic T9 keys, for the equivalent of US$200.
Our tour guide smiled on how much GUM was such a social hub for Russians since the 1920s. I couldn't comment on how the haves and have-nots viewed the location, or what it stood for over the years or today, but it was obvious to me its social status.
> Several times during the 1960s and 1970s, the Second Secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Suslov, who hated the idea of having a Department store across the Mausoleum of Lenin, tried to convert GUM into a Exhibition hall and Museum showcasing the achievements of the Soviet Union and Communism, without the knowledge of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Each time however, Brezhnev was tipped off and put a stop to such plans.[8]
And idk what you’re referring to regarding “vulnerable”? Vulnerable to addiction? Alcohol is addictive and bars are legal. Casinos are still heavily regulated, but beyond that people are allowed to make their own decisions and gamble if they wish.
Not OP but worked in the industry and enjoying a casino visit once in a while: People left so far behind by society that they see their only hope of escaping poverty in gambling. Or people with issues (poverty, domestic violence, PTSD, ...) who don't have access to other outlets for their frustrations. Lotteries and gambling are called "taxes on the poor and stupid" for a reason!
> Vulnerable to addiction? Alcohol is addictive and bars are legal.
Yes, but you usually can't drink away your life savings in one night out (expensive whisky, wine and strip club champagne aside). You'll pass out before being able to spend more than 200$ in most bars. With gambling, it's scary how fast you can win and especially lose a lot of money - I watched someone at a roulette wheel winning 35k $ in one round (bet a grand on a single number), and lose that and more the next ten minutes.
It feels like there's a certain style of "1980s mall", and another style of "2020s mall". The former is 2 stories of indoor corridors, primarily retail shops, with interspersed fully-enclosed restaurants and few areas to sit down. The latter is mixed-use, with condos, hotels, restaurants, and retail shops surrounding an open-air green space with lots of public seating and lawns. 1980s malls are dying fast, but 2020s malls are springing up in their place, and successfully drawing people to them.
https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/7665/63758...
It did take for a long time in other areas. (Long = approximately the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.) But visits to malls across the US have been declining for some time.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_apocalypse (Not mall-specific.)
In fact, many are quite happy to visit the “Mall of Scandinavia”
And many / most smaller towns only have chains.
That Euro charm that so many romanticize is not evenly distributed.
Los Angeles probably has the most non-chain businesses in any of the cities I've lived in.
I guess you had to be there.