agreed. back in the 80s, the closest mall to me was pretty good - a decent mix of entertainment stores (music, games) and arcades, and water slide for a while, movie theater, and a decent mix of food (well, some of the better food was anchor restaurants in the parking lot). My recollection is there was a lot of natural light on sunny days - large glass sections in the ceiling structure let in quite a lot of light. I seem to remember one wing (of the 5?) being a bit drearier than the others, but might be bad memory (or... it was the 'lord and taylor' wing and I rarely ever went there!)
Biggest drawback I see to the older style 'mall' areas was lack of expandability - the structure was forever in place - you couldn't change the character with a new wing/section very easily. Outdoor shopping areas have a bit more flexibility in that respect.
Much like radio and tv have far more competition for our time, so too do malls have more competition for our time and money. But they had a good run :)
The indoor style exists because of extreme weather. I personally suspect California got indoor shopping malls back then because most everywhere else had indoor malls too- and they had indoor malls for the same reason they have indoor highschools.
You refer to outdoor schools. My middle schoool was sort of like that. Of course the classrooms were indoors, but the campus was several small building not one big one. So to go to art, or music, or gym, or lunch you would walk outside to another building. It was nice to get outside four or five times a day even if just for a few minutes. Of course it kind of sucked in a heavy rain....
Inland central and southern California need air-conditioned spaces to escape the summer heat. Coastal, not so much.
Or were you referring to the consumer productivity lost studying the grass or feeding squirrels and pigeons rather than paying attention to the fabulous product offerings in the mall curriculum? God forbid people obtain value without anyone profiting; think of the children!
Biggest drawback I see to the older style 'mall' areas was lack of expandability - the structure was forever in place - you couldn't change the character with a new wing/section very easily. Outdoor shopping areas have a bit more flexibility in that respect.
Much like radio and tv have far more competition for our time, so too do malls have more competition for our time and money. But they had a good run :)