California passed a law to make it easier to convert strip malls to housing. Uptake has been slow, and ADU's seem more successful, but it's a start. Can't speak to larger malls.
I only know two "nearby" in the central valley, and they seem OK, though I only ever visit one because it has the only Apple store in a very large area. I spend more time at thrift stores, mainly for the unpredictable items that show up. And the Hawaiian shirts at a fraction of retail prices. Large, unfortunately, falls past my knees. Aloha, HN'ers!
Landfills more likely, they'll tear down the malls and leave bare land, the plastic from all that consumption will last forever?
This. Government imposes too much cost on owning garbage (more so maintenance obligations coded into law than taxes IMO, but those too in some places) so our society is forced to dismantle things rather than let them be barely utilized or naturally decay on the off chance that some future use comes along.
Often it seems like The New York Times finds something is “news” when the rest of us knew it 20 years ago. When something gets in the Times it signals the Laggard that they’d better get with it
I have gotten to recognize the clickbait-chic headlines from NYT.