Death of the strip mall? We can only dream

Calculated Risk is concerned that the vacancy rate in US strip malls is almost 11 per cent.
Well, I know its not good for the economy, but wouldn't it be great if strip malls actually did bite the dust?
Taken as a group, they are the ugliest part of any city -- boring cindercrete shoeboxes, plastered with garish plastic signage, with cheap plate glass windows, fronted by barren asphalt parking lots, not a tree or a flower in sight.
Bulldoze them all and build some place that people want to go.