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Where I live, it's not the location exactly, but rather, accessibility via public transportation. This region depends heavily on public transit and the operating system is designed to enable anyone from almost anywhere to get to work, shopping and so on without the need for a car. That's great for the elderly, young people who can't afford wheels and people like me who never learned to drive. But it also allows the riff-raff from the ghettos to pollute the malls and the nicer amenities of the suburbs.

A number of older malls also never invested in good security. The mall across town I mentioned was a prime example. Crime increased, the owners couldn't or wouldn't deal with it, so people stayed away in droves. I give the mall closer to me credit. It has an active security force that patrols every inch of the mall, including the parking lots. In addition, the local police department maintains a substation in the mall. This mall probably looked at what happened to other malls and decided to take action now before these punks destroyed it as they did at other malls.