Was reminded that shortly after Mall of America opened, there actually WAS a shooting there. One of the other malls responded by selling T-shirts with a printed blood spatter and lettering that said "I visited Mall of America and all I got was a lousy flesh wound." Now THAT is timely marketing!
Rent at malls with large common indoor areas is more expensive because of utilities (heating, cooling) and upkeep, so there's less incentive today to build a large enclosed mall. And with fewer anchor tenants (Sears is gone, JCPenny is on the rocks, Macy's is struggling, Target is closing stores) it's more difficult to justify the investment.
Plus, in some areas, a fairly unsavory bunch of "youngsters" likes to congregate in the mall and harass people. I remember several decades ago the chief of police in St. Paul, MN said that business was falling off at the downtown "Town Square" shopping area because groups of minority youths were causing problems - and he was a democrat! Boy, did THAT ever set off an s-storm of protest! All manner of commentators, organizers, and what-have-you came out all called him racist, sexist, bigoted, insensitive, and every other word you can think of.
Or almost every word - I don't recall even his most vocal critics claiming that what he said was factually wrong.