Thanks for the photos, Rob.
Midtown Plaza (1962–2008) was an indoor shopping mall in downtown Rochester, New York, the first urban indoor mall in the United States. The site is being redeveloped for a variety of uses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midtown_Plaza_(Rochester)
Big malls seem to be falling out of favor in many locations in the US. Sometimes the common areas become hangout havens for non-customers. Some stores want to set their own hours independent from the main mall, and the common area becomes unwanted overhead expense with possible security issues. Many of the big 'anchor' stores that were commonly associated with large malls have fallen out of favor themselves.
Toronto has a huge underground shopping complex which I suspect remains popular because it facilitates shopping and socializing during long periods of inclement winter weather. I've seen a number of relatively modern mall developments in Australia, some of them in secondary towns, which have the convenience of lower-level parking out of the hot sun, and comfortable climate-controlled common areas connecting the stores.
It would be cool if a large mall could include a miniature railway to tour people around all the stores and to the parking areas ...
