There is a large mostly abandoned shopping center near where I live.

[forgotmylogin]

17. I saw a video where they were converting some mall spaces to apartments.

Which is a great idea since it creates a reason for stores and services to move in. Some malls become restaurant complexes.

My childhood mall became sort of an indoor park and public square. Instead of enticing huge corporate retailers, after the mall-crash era they aimed local and smaller. There are still a few normal mall stores, but people flock in the morning for indoor power walking out of the weather under a roof, there are offices and small business spaces, a two story public library, a Walgreens and a small urgent care facility, a huge post office and UPS shipping and delivery storefront, a pay-by-the-hour public computer facility, several little cafes and coffee shops and two big sit-down restaurants, some government offices with a vehicle titling/licensing/ID renewal location, and they rent flexible display carts in the open spaces to small artisans and craftspeople to display and sell wares. There's a playground area with a padded floor, and also a little open stage (converted from a water fountain/pond) and school choirs and dance groups and small bands will perform shows there. It's a pleasant place to hang out and stroll around and it serves a lot of public-use necessity without feeling like just a crush of retail locations.