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are you joking? malls are not public in any shape or form. they are 100% privately-owned commercial property . people go there to shop, period. that's what they were built and designed for by the developers.
This might be a Canadian distinction. Malls, in their original conception, were intended to be places of social gathering in addition to retail centers. I think "optimization" has squeezed that out of a lot of U.S. malls, but perhaps this carries on a bit in colder Canada.
No, they're used for that here as well. Especially if you're talking about the larger ones. Mall of America, for example, has amenities for formal social gatherings. I've never seen a mall that wasn't used by teenagers as a place to hang out. Optimization may have squeezed some of that out, but certainly not all. Plus, it's swinging the other direction currently. Malls are putting much more emphasis in being destinations where shopping can occur rather than just a collection of a bunch of stores.
No, they're used for that here as well. Especially if you're talking about the larger ones. Mall of America, for example, has amenities for formal social gatherings. I've never seen a mall that wasn't used by teenagers as a place to hang out.
Holoyoke Mall in western Massachusetts. From 4 pm onwards on Fridays and Saturdays teenagers aren't allowed unescorted by an adult 21 and over.
are you joking? malls are not public in any shape or form. they are 100% privately-owned commercial property . people go there to shop, period. that's what they were built and designed for by the developers. they are not hang out spots for high school students to walk around in circles all day long and loitering. there's nothing for anyone to do at the mall but shop. you would get kicked out by the security in most malls for doing anything else because they will think you are there to shoplift something. sorry but the mall is not your personal daycare center or babysitter.
That's why I put 'public space' in parenthesis. Yes, I know it's privately owned, but suburbs don't have busy public squares, this is the closest people can come to a place to hang out and be around lots of other members of the public. The mall may not like people doing anything other then shopping, but it ends up playing that role for a community regardless most of the time. I've never seen a mall where security would kick people out just for loitering, that's awful, most of the ones I've been to even have little couches and stuff to encourage people to spend more time there. Who wants to go to a mall where it seems like there's no one around? If I was running a mall, I'd think the more warm bodies in there at a time, the better.
There is a mall near me that is very big and successful I think, if teens aren't with a parent after 5pm they get kicked out of the mall. I think it's kind of ridiculous, like where else can these teens hangout? Now me, having worked in the mall, I just go in get what I want and I'm out, I've grown to not like being in the mall most likely due to working in them.
But doesn't that just imply it's used as a hangout by teenagers? If it wasn't, why would they have the rule?
it implies that malls are often used as a 'hangout' (if you want to call it that) for young shoplifters and juvenile delinquent types. hence the malls will employ rules targeted at juveniles to discourage that kind of behavior.
That's why I put 'public space' in parenthesis. Yes, I know it's privately owned, but suburbs don't have busy public squares, this is the closest people can come to a place to hang out and be around lots of other members of the public. The mall may not like people doing anything other then shopping, but it ends up playing that role for a community regardless most of the time. I've never seen a mall where security would kick people out just for loitering, that's awful, most of the ones I've been to even have little couches and stuff to encourage people to spend more time there. Who wants to go to a mall where it seems like there's no one around? If I was running a mall, I'd think the more warm bodies in there at a time, the better.
Walmart and Target has a lot of people walking around but I don't think anyone goes to Walmart or Target to 'hang out.' Just because there's people walking around doesn't make it a good place for teenagers to hangout. Teens don't go to the mall to socialize or hang out they go to shop when they go at all. And if they're not shopping they will be asked to leave or escorted out just as they would at Walmart and Target (which is why there are security cameras everywhere in the malls and big box stores). Accessibility is often an issue for young people. Outside of downtown urban areas you need a car to get to the mall which many teens don't have so when you see them they are usually with their parents.
Malls are terrible substitutes for traditional public squares. As 'community gathering places' they fail but I don't think they were ever meant to be that. A mall is no more of a community gathering place than Walmart or Costco. The internet and social networking sites are the modern equivalent of the public square. The internet is a terrible substitute for real human contact but that's where teens (and adults) are spending all their free time since the traditional public square no longer exists for the most part in North America - though they seem to be making a minor comeback in New York and San Francisco.
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