My city has plenty of all kinds of shops where people live, but they (and I) still go to malls because shops there are larger and better equipped, there are more of them and you can walk between them at nice temperature and protected from the rain.
Yes, small shops in neighborhoods will never be able to match the price to utility ratio of large shopping complexes with businesses like Costco, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Ikea, Home Depot, Apple, Kroger, etc.
As long as one has access to a personal car, and those above big businesses are available within 30min, even 45min, it is basically impossible for a smaller, local retailer to compete. And now you have the internet and delivery to your door to compete with too.
Glad to hear it. Sounds like you have an excellent balance of options available to you.
It seems like a not insignificant amount of malls aren't sustaining themselves, so I wonder if the balance you described is a world where malls can thrive.
