Zeros

The Empty Echo : What Happens When Our Malls Disappear? You're pulling the Halloween decorations down from the closet, and right behind them, there's the box marked,  Christmas . In a few weeks, you'll be shopping for gifts—probably clicking through Amazon at midnight, maybe making a quick Walmart run between errands. It's efficient. It's convenient. But something has been quietly vanishing while we've been adding items to our digital carts. Across America, the malls that once anchored our communities are being demolished. Eastland Mall in Columbus, Ohio—once a bustling center of commerce and community—began its demolition this year. The Outlets at Hillsboro in Texas, Jamestown Mall in Missouri, and dozens of others have met the same fate or are scheduled for the wrecking ball. These aren't just buildings coming down. They're town centers disappearing. The numbers tell a sobering story. Between 2016 and 2024, a net 18,730 ma...