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I just found my 100th dead mall photo from a trip to the old Sunrise Center in Fresno

I was sorting through my hard drive last night and realized I had exactly 100 pictures from my visit to the Sunrise Center last fall. That place was huge, over a million square feet when it opened in the 70s, but it felt like a ghost town. I remember the weirdest thing was the old fountain in the main court, completely dry and filled with dead leaves. The silence was so heavy you could hear your own footsteps echo. I think it closed because a bigger, fancier mall opened across town and all the anchor stores left. It's crazy how a place that was once so busy can just fade away. Has anyone else been to a mall where the emptiness just felt overwhelming?
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skylerp20
skylerp203mo ago
That "heavy silence" you mentioned is the worst part. I always wear soft-soled shoes in those places because the echo can really get to you. It's a weird feeling trying to be quiet in a space built for noise.
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angelacooper
angelacooper3mo agoTop Commenter
Totally get what you mean about that heavy quiet. I see it in a lot of old rest stops and diners too, places built for crowds that are just empty now. Skylerp20 has a point about the shoes, the wrong ones make you feel like you're intruding. Makes you wonder what other everyday spots will feel like that in twenty years.
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grayw32
grayw321mo ago
Think about how many more spots are heading that way. Strip malls with three stores left, old bowling alleys converted into storage units. Kinda makes you wonder what we're trading for all this new stuff.
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