One of the many ideals of modern America is our rampant consumerism. Whether you’re a little kid or towards the end of your life, there will be a marketing campaign geared towards you—and they’re after all you’re worth. We spend money to survive but also use it to kill boredom. In the 80s, malls were the pinnacle of entertainment for any high-energy teenager who had cash and wanted to meet some new people. Today, they’re notorious for their eerie atmosphere, specific selection of stores, and lack of seating area. In an era where profits rule, it’s only natural to associate fun with cash–and that social spaces will eventually turn into just another store.

“The question isn’t what do we do,” student Charles Scott said. “It’s what do we do without actually having to buy something.”

“I do think that there’s definitely a change in what public spaces are available,” Scott added.

If you are sensitive to fluorescent lights, malls are not for you. Despite their shelter from the cold in brisk winter months, they exert anything but comfort for modern teens.

“It’s a little bit depressing sometimes,” student Jane Wagle said. “Now it’s deserted…I don’t go often now.”

Malls used to be spaces where kids who had just got their licenses could go to get away from their parents. It was an experience, somewhere you wanted to go and where people would celebrate, but nowadays, you’re lucky to have a good experience.

It does raise the question, however, of how all this happened.

We’re all influenced by the media we consume, all of which encourage us to spend our money. Advertisements have infected our social media, billboards, television, and sidewalks, encouraging us to find something new. The only way the market can grow is to encourage new avenues. So it bounces from trend to trend, leaving mere crumbs behind, which is what happened to our malls.

“Shopping online is easier,” Wagle said.

In the digital era, you have to adapt. Brick-and-mortar stores are turning online, which leaves malls suffering.

With less profit from a lack of buyers, it’s difficult to maintain community spaces. Less maintenance means fewer shoppers, leading to less and less profits.

“I feel like they’re just kind of gross sometimes,” Wagle said.

“I feel like they’re more popular when you can finally get here,” mall-goer Ella Wright said.

Malls are incredibly far, which only exacerbates their already poor turnout. They’re typically far from neighborhoods, messy, and depressing, and when you can order anything you want from Amazon, there really isn’t a need to put in that much effort.

“The malls are so far away from where people live it’s not convenient for people to drive all the way out there,” Scott said.

We might soon see an incredible number of malls close due to this. Even pre-pandemic malls weren’t especially popular, but now we’re so used to isolating ourselves that sometimes going into big public spaces is jarring, even for the most extroverted.

You can think about it as almost passing the candle down. A symbol once considered the pinnacle of modern materialism has been dethroned by online fast fashion. In some regards, it’s quite a sad thing to witness. It’s never easy watching a community die before your eyes, but one must also imagine that this may become constructive.

By recognizing what’s missing in our interpersonal lives, we can become the change we want to see in this world. If you want malls like how they were in the 80s, take a walk to the closest park on a warm, breezy day and take your time appreciating what it brings to your community. Talk to some people, bring a blanket and a friend and have a picnic. Malls weren’t what brought people together; they only served as a means to place them in the same general area. You have the means to connect with others and to build the spaces you want, so what’s stopping you? I’ll tell you what–it sure isn’t a T.J. Max.