>>13467158Landmark Mall in Alexandria, VA. I went there many times in my Gen X northern Virginia youth. It's gone now.
It might seem like it was all a shallow castle of consumerism, and it was, but malls were also like the old village square. It's where teens went to hang out with friends and learn to be independent of their parents, where boys met girls and vice versa, where older people could go to socialize and be less isolated, as well as get in some safe exercise. Little kids went to see Santa and the Easter Bunny and pick out new school clothes. It was like a town within a town, well lit, safe from crime and bad weather. We camped out to get concert tickets, bought prom clothes, ate pizza, snuck into R rated movies, checked out cool cars in the parking lot, flirted with cute girls, played games at the arcade, and bought the latest cassette from some new band on MTV. It was a great time and I would go back in a minute if I could.
